McKay & Miller remain proud after fourth-place finish in 10m synchro at Paris 2024

Another fourth-place finish at the Olympic Games was not what Caeli McKay was hoping for, but she and diving partner Kate Miller will be keeping their heads high after they just missed the podium in the women’s 10m synchro event on Day 5 at Paris 2024.

“I think that we are both so proud,” said an emotional McKay. “We knew that it comes down to the day and we ended up fourth today, but that doesn’t take away from all of our hard work and it doesn’t take away from our careers together and our journey and our value.”

McKay and Miller had come into the Games with good momentum, having won silver in their last international competition, the World Aquatics Diving World Cup Super Final in April. Before that, they had won silver at the World Cup stop in Germany. They had qualified for Paris 2024 with their sixth-place finish at the 2024 World Aquatics Championships.

After the first two dives, which are judged solely for their execution and synchronicity, McKay and Miller were in fifth place with a score of 93.60, but all the teams from second to sixth were very close, behind the Chinese duo of Chen Yuxi and Quan Hongchan who had jumped out in front with 111.00.

For their first of three optional dives, McKay and Miller went for a forward 3 1/2 somersaults in pike position. It received scores of 7.5s and 8.0s which put their overall total at 162.90 and had them in second place, just 0.60 ahead of Mexico and North Korea who were tied for third.

Next up was an inward 3 1/2 somersaults in tuck position, as they chose to close with their two highest degree of difficulty dives. It received 6.5s and 7.5s for a dive score of 68.16. Their running total of 231.06 had them in third place with one dive to go.

Their last was a back 2 1/2 somersaults with 1 1/2 twists in pike position, which earned an identical score to their fourth dive. With a final total of 299.22, they dropped behind Great Britain’s Andrea Spendolini Sireix and Lois Toulson who got 77.76 for their final effort and with it, the bronze medal.

McKay had also missed the podium by one spot three years ago at Tokyo 2020, finishing fourth with former partner Meaghan Benfeito just a few weeks after badly spraining her ankle in training.

“I can’t compare anything of my past career in synchro to my new partnership with [Miller],” said McKay. “Nothing really compares to being fourth place twice at the Olympics, but I think that they’re very different situations. Fourth place last time, I barely was able to even dive [due to her injury]. And this one, I was able to completely take it in. I was able to enjoy it. I was able to appreciate being with Kate and experiencing her first Olympics.”

Both McKay and Miller will compete individually in the women’s 10m platform, beginning with the preliminary round on August 5.

“[We’ll] take a day off, regroup, maybe reflect a little bit on what happened today. Going into an Olympics and jumping straight into an Olympic final is insanely difficult for the nerves–I can’t even explain how hard it is to go into that,” said McKay.

McKay and Miller will support each other not just as teammates, but as friends, through the rest of the Games, even as they become competitors.

“She’s one of my best friends, so it’s nice to be able to be here together and have another shoulder to cry on together,” said McKay.