‘THAT WAS F***ING INSANE’

NEW GOLDEN AUSSIE ‘BLOWN AWAY’ BY HIS FINAL DIVE

TAKING his lead from Olympic swimming champion Kaylee McKeown, who dropped the F-bomb after winning in Tokyo, there was only ever going to be one way Australia’s Cassiel Rousseau could describe his incredible gold medal winning dive at the Commonwealth Games.

“That was f … ing insane,” he shrieked. “What the f … was that? Holy shit.”

Rousseau wasn’t the only one blown away by his astonishing last dive that won him the gold medal in the men’s 10m platform final in Birmingham.

One judge gave him a perfect score — 10 out of 10 — and the rest gave him the highest score for any dive in the competition when he nailed a four-and-a-half forward somersault, one of the trickiest, most dangerous dives off the high tower.

But the 21-year-old pulled it off to win the gold ahead of Canadian Rylan Wiens, who also impressed the judges with his last dive, leaving Rousseau needing something extraordinary.

“There was a lot of pressure on that last dive and I think I handled it pretty well,” said Rousseau. “I said to myself, ‘If I land on my stomach or if I do actually land on my head, I’m not going to care at all’. I’m going to give it my all and see what I actually have in store. Before I was about to run, there was absolutely nothing in my head and I just went for it.

“I did know straight away. As soon as I hit the water, I knew I was going to get some bloody high marks.”

Rousseau’s grandfather Michel won cycling gold for France at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. His goal is to honour his grandfather’s memory by winning a medal for Australia in Paris in 2024.

Starting out as a gymnast, he had the natural skills to be a great diver but there was a big problem to overcome first.

“I had a big fear of heights,” he said. “But Mum just got me out of bed for a trial day kicking and screaming and ever since that day, I fell in love with the sport.

“It’s just pure enjoyment now. I’m not afraid at all over the height.”

Rousseau added the individual gold to the bronze medal he won with Domonic Bedggood in the 10m synchronised final. Bedggood won the individual gold at the Gold

Coast four years ago.

Fourth after the first of his six dives in the final, Rousseau took a narrow lead at the halfway mark with a reverse three and a half somersault.

He was just 2.1 points in front heading into the last round, but entered the water with hardly a splash to finish on 501.30 points, 8.5 clear of Wiens.

England’s Matthew Lee won the bronze while Australia’s Sam Fricker finished 10th after getting a late call up to

the final after England’s Matthew Dixon withdrew.