After three near misses, an individual Olympic diving medal might finally be within Melissa Wu's grasp.
The Australia veteran - competing at her fourth Olympics - was ranked fourth after the 10m preliminaries to comfortably move through to Thursday's 18-strong semi-final.
Wu was sublime throughout the five rounds at Tokyo Aquatics Centre with three dives earning scores in excess of 70 points, her best an inward three-and-half somersaults in the tuck position for which she received a score of 75.20.
Wu's five-dive total was 351.20, 39.50 points behind leading qualifier Chen Yuxi.
Being in and around the medal hunt is nothing new for the 29-year-old, who has made the final at each of the past three Games.
In Beijing in 2008 she finished sixth, four years later in London she finished fourth, while in Rio in 2016 she was fifth.
Of course Wu does have an Olympic silver medal to her name, when as a 16-year-old she combined with Briony Cole to place second in the synchronised 10m platform in Beijing.
But while a medal may be in her sights in Tokyo, a gold medal could be a bridge too far if the preliminaries are any guide.
China's Chen, the 15-year-old reigning world champion, streeted the field with a five-dive total of 390.70, 26.25 points ahead of compatriot Quan Hongchan in second.
Australia's other competitor in the preliminaries, Nikita Hains, finished 21st to miss the semi-finals by 14.90 points.
After a disappointing opening dive, Hains was steadily moving her way up the field to be ranked 20th after the third round.
But her fourth dive halted her momentum as she lost her shape on entry following a reverse two-and-a-half somersaults in the tuck position which netted just 44.80 points.
Australian Associated Press
