Alexandre Despatie finishes 11th after coming back from devastating injury

For Alexandre Despatie, an Olympic medal just months after suffering a concussion would have been too good to be true.

The legendary Canadian diver officially slipped out of contention in the men's three-metre springboard at the London Aquatic Centre on his second-last dive. Needing a high score to stay with the leaders during the fifth round, the 27-year-old didn't get the proper hurdle on the forward 4½ somersault, the dive he had completed only once in competition. It was a gamble, but the score of just 74.10 points dropped him back to eighth place, on his way to finishing 11th in the 12-man final.

Up until that point, Despatie had given a game effort, increasing his scores in each round. The crowd in London gave Despatie a warm ovation — an appreciation of his career, if this is indeed the end of it — after his knees buckled on his final attempt.

"My year ended the way it began — with bad luck," Despatie told RDS in a French interview.

"I really wanted to be here," he told CTV. "It's been the most taxing year of my life mentally ... I was so lucky and fortunate to be here in the first place. Six weeks ago I was laying in the hospital. It was a challenge to say the least."

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Russia's Ilya Zakharov broke China's string of diving golds, edging China's Qin Kai and He Chong.

The former world champion suffered a horrific injury while training in Madrid this spring, so it should be kept in mind that coming back to compete at London 2012 was commendable. Due to the injuries, Despatie's training time for London led to him dropping the reverse 3½ somersault from his repertoire. He replaced it with the inward 3 1/2, which he nailed in the fourth round.

There has been speculation about whether Despatie will ramp up for run at a fifth Olympics in Rio in 2016, when he will be 31 years old. That would make him superannuating by diving standards. The emotional and physical toll from hitting the water thousands of times in practice and competition catches up to every contestant eventually. Despatie has already faced plenty of risk during his career.

"That's the million-dollar question, isn't it?" Despatie said when asked about retirement. "I told myself earlier in the year I wouldn't think about it until I'd had a few weeks to think about it."

[Slideshow: Canada on Day 11]

The Laval, Que., resident finished sixth in the synchro springboard with Reuben Ross earlier in the week.

Despatie, a three-times world champion, won silvers in springboard at the 2004 and '08 Olympics. He also finished fourth as a 15-year-old Olympic rookie in 2000.

Canada expects 2-3 diving medals at London 2012; it has two so far. Meaghan Benfeito and Roseline Filion compete in the women's 10-metre platform. The preliminaries take place Wednesday.

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Contact him at neatesager@yahoo.ca and follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet.

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