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Posted: 2024-07-20 00:56:44

In short:

Melissa Wu will make Australian Olympic history when she dives for her country for the fifth time at the Olympics.

The 32-year-old said she has to change the way she prepares to keep up with her younger competitors.

What's next?

The women's 10m platform starts on Tuesday, August 6, at 11pm (AEST) and will be live blogged by ABC Sport.

Nursing a wonky knee and needing two cortisone injections for her neck, Melissa Wu went further north in her body to make Australian diving history.

The 32-year-old focused heavily on her mind and it has paid off, with Wu about to be the first Australian to dive at five Olympics.

Last month, Wu secured Olympic selection by winning the 10m platform at the national championships.

Just four weeks out from the nationals, Wu's injuries meant the two-time Olympic medallist had been unable to practise her competition dives.

"As time goes on, it gets harder and harder — not just because I've had a lot of injuries, but it's putting your body through a gruelling sport like diving," she said.

"The older I get, the more I appreciate it, definitely. This has been a lot harder, this prep … not just physically, but having that trust in myself.

Melissa Wu

Melissa Wu (right) as a 13-year-old with Alex Croak in 2006 during a training session ahead of the Commonwealth Games.(AAP: Dave Hunt)

"I had to work very hard in my mindset. I started doing visualisation, something I'd always struggled to do.

"I knew I was going to have to dig deep and find something, do something different to make this team."

Given Wu's injury problems, some aspects of her training program have been reduced heavily and others, such as nutrition and psychology, have received a much sharper focus.

ABC Sport will be live blogging every day of the Paris Olympics from July 27

"I knew to get through the trials, I was going to have to rely on a lot of the mindset work I was doing, trying to focus on doing as much of that as I could," she said.

"I had to make a really strict plan as to how I was going to get there, when I was going to take up which dives.

"I was nervous, but I knew that I really wanted to be on this team — it means a lot to me."

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