Grace Reid boosted her growing reputation in international diving with the best British performance for 56 years in the women’s 3m springboard final.
The 20-year old from Edinburgh, who won European bronze in London earlier this year, scored 318.60 to finish eighth – Team GB’s best result in the event since Liz Ferris won bronze in 1960.
The Scottish diver saved her best performance for the final in Rio, stepping up on her 304.25 and 314.25 efforts from the prelims and semis respectively.
Reid has been knocking on the door of the world’s elite for a number of years, having served notice of her potential with a fourth place finish at the 2010 European Championships when she was just 14.
And having now stood on the boards for an Olympic final, the youngster admitted it had been an experience she is desperate to repeat in four years time.
“That was amazing,” said Reid. “I loved every second. I’m gutted it’s over to be honest but I loved every second of that from the first day I was up to just now.
“I guess I saved my best until last. That’s the good thing going in on a fresh page and taking each dive at a time and to walk away with that result is just amazing.
“The reverse pike is new for me since Europeans and this year I’ve upped my degree of difficulty. The only reason that’s paying off is because of the confidence that’s come with it – believing in my ability to do the harder dives
“I’m going to enjoy this while it lasts, have a bit of a holiday and then I think it’ll be back to the hard work with my coach Jenny [Leeming] and see where we’re at.
“We’ve put in so much work over the past 13 years and today was a testament to that work we’ve put in.”