Ireland's Oliver Dingley missed out on qualification for the semi-finals of the 3m springboard at Tokyo 2020.
The two-time Olympian, who became the first Irish diver to compete at the Games in 68 years at Rio 2016 where he also reached the final, required a top 18 finish to advance from Monday's preliminary heats.
But the 28-year-old finished up 25th overall of the 29 participants with an overall score of 335.00 after his six dives at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre.
We need your consent to load this comcast-player contentWe use comcast-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
Chinese duo Zongyuan Wang and Siyi Xie set the two top overall scores of 531.30 and 520.90 respectively.
Dingley's opening dive was 3.0 difficulty and left him ranked 22nd overall with a score of 63.00, before his second effort dropped him back to 27th.
We need your consent to load this comcast-player contentWe use comcast-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
His third dive, with a degree difficulty of 3.4, saw him move up to 26th but his 3.0 difficulty fourth dive saw him move back down to 27th overall.
Dingley's sixth and final effort with a 3.4 degree of difficulty ultimately saw him finish 25th overall but not enough to qualify for the next stage of the competition.
'He'll be really disappointed with today' - Irish diver Clare Cryan says a lack of competition leading into #Tokyo2020 may have been a factor as Oliver Dingley fails to advance#Olympics #RTESport
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) August 2, 2021
📺 Watch live - https://t.co/fmILnhxvf7
📱 Updates – https://t.co/JMtWFZP56o pic.twitter.com/U3vgwahFp5
"It was one of those things, I've experienced the highs and the lows of the Olympic Games. I feel a bit useless after that one but at the same time, it's been five years, I feel very proud to be able to stand up on that diving board and represent the country," he told RTÉ Sport after the preliminary round.
"It's hard to take and in a sport like diving where the smallest of mistakes in the air costs you. It really emphasises the mistakes especially, so it's like a bit of a chain reaction."
Diver Oliver Dingley says he has experienced the highs and lows of the Olympics after failing to advance from the opening round of the men's 3m Springboard competition#Olympics #RTESport #Tokyo2020
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) August 2, 2021
📺 Watch live - https://t.co/fmILnhxvf7
📱 Updates – https://t.co/JMtWFZP56o pic.twitter.com/FKjfeY7tox
Emphasising that he still carries the positive memory of making the final in Rio five years ago, he added: "The last dive I tried to take it all in a little bit more and put a bit of a smile on my face."
Dingley said that his thoughts are now turning to supporting team-mate Tanya Watson who will compete in the women's 10m springboard preliminary round on Wednesday.
"She's a phenomenal talent and looking forward to seeing her doing her thing and it'll be nice to be in the stands cheering her on."
Follow all the action from Tokyo 2020 with our 24-hour coverage on RTÉ.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app, watch live on RTÉ2 or RTÉ Player and listen to updates and live commentaries on RTÉ Radio.
We need your consent to load this YouTube contentWe use YouTube to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences