Advertisement

Meaghan Benfeito, Roseline Filion take plunge for Canada’s second medal

neate sager

Canada's diving teammate Meaghan Benfeito and Roseline Filion, and teammate Jennifer Abel have matching tattoos of the Olympic rings. Tuesday, they hope to match Abel by winning a medal as they compete in women's synchronized 10-metre platform, which begins at 10 a.m. ET.

Also like Abel, the pair got its feet wet at the Games in Beijing, where they got their bearings with what's involved in the Olympics — which seems to impact divers, whose enterprise is one of the most nerve-racking disciplines, more so than other athletes. They have also done much more maturing collectively during the four-year build-up to London 2012. They'll have to summon that, since their main competition for the silver and bronze medals includes the host country's entry, Great Britain's Sarah Barrow and Tonia Couch. Veteran Mexican diver Paola Espinosa is also the reigning Pan-Am Games champion; she's paired with 15-year-old Alejandra Orozco.

From Sean Gordon:

Four years ago, the duo finished seventh at their first Olympics in Beijing. This time around, they've benefited from four full years together and put forth a strong 2011-12 World Cup season, in which they piled up a raft of podium finishes.

They ended the season ranked second in the world behind China's Chen Ruolin and Wang Hao.

"This is a much different feeling than in Beijing," Filion said recently. "This time, we're not just happy to be here." (Globe & Mail)Abel and veteran Émilie Heymans gutted out a bronze medal on Sunday at the London Aquatic Centre, climbing up from fifth place after three dives. As Rob Longley of Quebecor Media noted, the Chinese are overwhelming favourites, with Canada, Great Britain and Australia's Rachel Bugg and Loudy Wiggins aiming not to be the odd team out of of a podium finish.

With just eight teams in the event are solid prospects for silver or bronze — behind the heavily favoured Chinese.

Our source for how much in contention the Canadians are is always bookmaker William Hill, who have listed the Canadian pair as the co second-choice with Great Britain at odds of 16-1. (The Chinese are 1-16.) The Aussies are next at 18-1 with the next closest contender at 40-1. By the William Hill numbers, then, Canada is a good bet to finish anywhere between second and fourth. (QMI Agency)

Benfeito and Filion will be diving last in each round. That might give them the advantage of knowing what they need to move into a medal position.

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