Benfeito, Filion smile at scoreboard in bronze-medal performance

RIO DE JANEIRO – Meaghan Benfeito and Roseline Filion stood beneath the 10-metre platform from where they had just nailed their fifth and final dive, an inward 3 1/2 somersault for a score of 80.64. Now they needed the pair from Great Britain to do the opposite if they wanted to get on the podium like they did in London four years ago.

The Brits hit water and the Canadian tandems’ reaction from below indicated they believed they had booked another Olympic bronze medal Tuesday afternoon at the Maria Lenk Aquatics Centre in Olympic Park. Their eyes shifted to the scoreboard, a place Benfeito hadn’t looked at once throughout the competition.

“For the first time in my 11 years with Rosie I didn’t look at the scoreboard so I had no idea where we were. I didn’t know that we needed a really really good dive,” said Benfeito. “We didn’t know we were fifth going into the last dive. We knew we had a good sequence of dive and we did it the way that we could.”

After a few replays, the scores lit up the blue video board, but the most important number was tucked away in the bottom right corner in red. When Benfeito finally allowed herself a peek, the “4” beside Great Britain confirmed their informed feeling and they could really begin to celebrate. The Chinese won gold in dominant fashion with 354 points, besting the silver-medallist Malaysians by almost 10 points.

Benfeito and Filion started strong, placing second after the first two of five dives, but fell to fourth place after their third dive and fifth place after their fourth dive, a back 3 1/2 somersault. When the North Korean pair didn’t properly execute their last dive, the door was open for the Canadians.

"The fourth dive was a little iffy. In practice I’ve been having a very hard time with that dive," said Benfeito. "It could have been better, it has been better, but I’m very happy to finish the event with a smile on my face."

Two days ago, however, it was two other Canadian divers that played the role of Great Britain and North Korea. Jennifer Abel and Pamela Ware botched their last attempt in the three-metre synchronized event and settled for fourth place by less than a point.

"We thought the three-metre should have been an easier medal than the platform. Somehow we were off that day. Their timing wasn’t on, their distance was off and they were starting to tighten up through the event," said Mitch Geller, Diving Canada’s technical director. "We weren’t able to do it in the three-metre, but having seen how [Benfeito and Filion] were doing through the first few rounds I expected a really good last dive and they gave it to us.”

Maybe Abel and Ware's misfortune precipitated Benfeito's sudden aversion to the scoreboard. She and Filion went in blind and without fear and delivered Canada’s fifth medal of these Games.

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Israel Fehr is a writer for Yahoo Canada Sports. Email him at israelfehr@yahoo.ca or follow him on Twitter. Follow @israelfehr