Ella Lindsay – achingly close to accessing the final
World Junior Championships
Montréal, August 28, 2026 – Ontario’s Ella Lindsay was achingly close to securing a spot for herself in the 10-meter platform final (ages 16–18), Friday, at the World Junior Diving Championships in Rijeka, Croatia.
Lindsay finished the round in 13th place with a total of 339.20 points, a mere 1.05 points behind Colombia’s Gabriela Rusinque – and most importantly the very last spot qualifying for the final round. It was a heartbreaking result, but nevertheless, young Canadian diver still chose to look on the bright side.
“I didn’t perform the way I wanted to today, and I wasn’t able to reach the goals I had set for myself. But, this result gives me confidence that I have what it takes to make it to the final next time. Honestly, it’s exciting to be so close, and it just makes me want to work even harder in training to achieve my future goals,” said Ella Lindsay.
The Ottawa resident had her best dives in the qualifiers early on in the day, moving into sixth place provisionally after the second round thanks to her score of 82.60. However, she got into some trouble on her fifth and sixth dives. Lindsay finished the session strong, but it wasn’t quite enough, and she fell just short of a spot in the all-important top 12.
“It was an incredible experience at the World Junior Championships. We had a great team, and I got to meet divers from all over the world. That’s also one of the benefits of competing at the Worlds,” Lindsay concluded.
Also competing in the qualifying round was Calgary’s Lila Gokiert, who placed 21st with a total of 305.55 points. The final was won by Russia’s Aleksandra Kedrina with 418.15 points; she finished ahead of Australians Maggie Grey, who placed second (412.20), and Kayla Davies, who placed third (411.40).
On the men’s diving boards, Alberta’s Chase Shaw finished 22ndin the 1-meter springboard preliminaries in the 14–15 age group.
Shaw was in contention for a spot in the final after six dives, when he was provisionally in 11th place. However, his hopes of securing a spot in the final round collapsed when he was unable to earn enough points on his next dive; he finished the day with 282.95 points.
Team Canada returns home from the Junior World Championships with a tally of four medals: one gold, one silver, and two bronze. Samuel McCaffrey and Kash Tarasoff won gold on the first day of the World Championships in the 3-meter synchronized event, while Lila Stewart first took silver in the 1-meter springboard, before adding a bronze medal to her collection in the 3-meter synchronized event with Mackenzie-Mai Van Houtte-Cachero. Arnaud Corbeil will also be bringing home a medal thanks to his third place in the 1m springboard event.
