‘Lucky’ Wu will take the plunge
MELISSA Wu says the loss of her diving partner to injury has given her a greater appreciation of the fragility of her own career and a determination to enjoy every moment of the Commonwealth Games.
Wu’s synchronised platform partner Taneka Kovchenko was forced to retire last week after scans revealed an issue that could have left her a quadriplegic if a dive went wrong.
South Australian Kovchenko, who with Wu was one of the favourites for gold, made the heartbreaking decision to withdraw from the team after scans revealed a congenital problem that left her with a hyperflexible neck and vertebrae that compress her spinal cord and brain.
Wu, who will make her first appearance at these Games tomorrow with West Australian Teju Williamson, said Kovchenko’s withdrawal had been tough for the entire team.
“It was her first Commonwealth Games and you share that, so we all felt for her,” Wu said. “I just feel so sad. When I first heard about it, I couldn’t sleep and I couldn’t imagine how she was feeling.”
Wu will compete in the individual platform event on Thursday as well as tomorrow’s synchronised event.
She has faced her own battles to get to a fourth Games after making her debut in Melbourne in 2006, aged 13.
“It’s been a pretty long career, so I’m pretty lucky in that respect, especially when you ... realise how fragile your body can be and you’ve really got to look after it,” she said. “To get to a second home Games, and a fourth (overall), is really exciting and I’m so happy to be here and to have this opportunity.
“I’ve got disc protrusions in my neck and a disc bulge in my back, all sorts of things.”
There has been one upside for Wu though.
The replacement for Kovchenko, the 148cm Williamson, is the first diving partner the diminutive Wu (153cm) has had who is shorter than her.