Canadian diver ?milie Heymans made history on Sunday, partnering with Jennifer Abel to capture her fourth Olympic medal.
Heymans, of St. Lambert, Que., and Abel, of Laval, Que., earned the bronze medal in the women's synchronized 3m springboard competition. The medal is Canada's first of London 2012.
With the performance, Heymans became the first Canadian summer athlete -- as well as the first female diver -- to win four medals at consecutive Olympic Games.
"We really worked very hard for this. We are really happy that it went very well," Heymans told RDSOlympiques on Sunday.?
Heymans earned her first Olympic medal in the 10m synchro event at Sydney 2000. Competing with Anne Montminy, she took silver. In 2004, she added bronze in the same event with Blythe Hartley. Four years ago at Beijing 2008, Heymans won her first individual medal with silver in the women's 10m platform.
Most of Heymans's success has come in the 10m platform events. Following Beijing 2008, Canada's most-decorated diver swapped to the springboard. She partnered with Abel in 2010.
For Abel, 20, and Heymans, 30, the London 2012 turning point occurred?in their fourth round of dives. In fourth-place overall with two dives to go, their biggest challenge loomed: the reverse 2.5 somersault.
"This is the one that I can hit for nines, or the one that I can miss," Abel has said of the dive. "I'm pretty sure that if this dive is going to go well, the rest of my dives are going to be good too."
Six points out of a medal position, Abel and Heymans would need to perform the dive well just to catch the field.?
They very nearly nailed it.?
Heymans over-rotated slightly, causing a slight splash on the entry. But as the scoreboard lit up with 74.70, it became clear that they had done enough.
The Canadian pair edged into third place -- a position they managed to hold over Italians Tania Cagnotto and Francesca Dallape, even through a shaky final dive.
Abel and Heymans began their 2012 season with a silver medal at the 2012 World Cup, but that success did not last. The duo struggled with their consistency for much of the year.
Headed into London, Abel believed they had worked past the trouble.
"We are less nervous, we are having more fun," Abel said. "We're just doing our dives and getting closer to the perfect 10."
Chinese duo Wu Minxia and He Zi were about as close to perfect as possible throughout their own list on Sunday.?China has won a medal in every Olympic synchronized springboard competition since the event's induction in 2000.
Wu and He continued the trend, posting a final score of 346.20. The win marked China's sixth of London 2012 and their third in the pool, after two Chinese swimmers picked up Olympic titles on Saturday evening.
Americans Kelci Bryant and Abby Johnson were second with a score of 321.90, while Heymans and Abel racked up 316.80 points of their own, for third.
"Now we feel the pressure has dropped and right now it's a lot of fun," Heymans said. "I'm really pleased to win this medal with Jennifer."
Both divers are scheduled to compete in the individual springboard competition, beginning Friday. They are both considered medal contenders in the event, but Abel is the reigning World bronze medallist.
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