Australian diver Melissa Wu bombs from ten metres

It was a bomb that would have brought a smile to the cheeks of Peter Kay. Unfortunately for Australian diver Melissa Wu her splash crash came in the Commonwealth Games ten metre platform competition where she had hoped to challenge for a medal.

Wu, one of the favourites in the event after taking silver in 2010, followed in the footsteps of compatriot Grant Nel and Malaysian Ahmad Amsyar Azman who had both crash-landed in the springboard competition.

But while their flops were from just a few metres, Wu's wipeout was from a rather more daunting height and was an even bigger shock.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

The day before yesterday’s dive, the 22-year-old Wu had been given a glowing build-up by Brisbane's Courier Mail newspaper, which proclaimed her as a woman whose "sporting career is defined by the quest for perfection".

A double medallist at the 2010 Commonwealths, Wu also scooped silver in the 2008 Olympics in the synchro ten metre platform, the youngest Australian in history to win an Olympic diving medal.

In Edinburgh, where the diving competition is being held, Wu admitted she was "a bit of a perfectionist" and said: "I’ve got a really good feeling about it... I think I’m in a really good space at the moment."

Alas, Wu found herself in a less good place when slipped as she launched into her first dive which, according to the Sydney Morning Herald, was intended to be a forward three-and-a-half somersault. Instead of arrowing into the water without a ripple, Wu ended up hitting the pool feet first and creating waves – literally and metaphorically – in the Tollcoss International Swimming Centre.

Not since Peter Kay’s brilliant display of bombing in a TV commercial for beer a few years back has a diver emptied a pool of so much water. Unlike Peter Kay, whose 'running bomb' was awarded perfect tens by all seven judges, Wu ended up with zero points after her effort was ruled a failed dive.

Fortunately she was unhurt and showed pluck to continue in the competition, finishing 11th overall and reflecting later: "It is really scary and you panic in the air and that’s why I don't remember thinking, I just came out and my body automatically came out... It was a bit of a shock really."