Despite suffering a broken knee and needing two cortisone injections for her neck, Melissa Wu continued north to make Australian diving history.
The 32-year-old focused heavily on her mental health and it paid off: Wu will soon be the first Australian to dive in the water at five Olympic Games.
Last month, Wu secured Olympic qualification by winning the 10-meter dive at the national championships.
Just four weeks before the national championships, two-time Olympic medalist Wu was unable to practice her competition jumps due to her injuries.
“It gets harder and harder as time goes on – not only because I've had so many injuries, but also because you're putting your body through such a grueling sport like diving,” she told AAP.
“The older I get, the more I definitely appreciate it. That preparation was a lot harder… not just physically, but because I had that confidence in myself.”
“I had to work very hard on my mindset. I started with visualizations, something that had always been difficult for me.
“I knew I had to dig deep and find something, do something different to get on this team.”
Due to Wu's injury problems, some aspects of her training program were greatly reduced, while others, such as nutrition and psychology, received a much greater focus.
“I knew that in order to get through the exams, I had to rely heavily on my mental attitude and try to focus as much as I could,” she said.
“I had to make a very strict plan about how I would get there and when I would do which dives.
“I was nervous, but I knew I really wanted to be on this team – it means a lot to me.”
Wu looks wistfully at the training of younger divers, but also knows what works for her today.
After repeatedly hitting the water from a height of 10 m at 60 km/h, her body needs different preparation.
“I can't train like the young guns anymore. Now it's about being smart… making sure everything I do in training is geared towards being on the 10-meter platform in Paris,” she said.
“I had to learn that more is not always more and that the way we have always done things is not necessarily the right way for me at the moment.
“I see the younger athletes training and I want to do exactly what they do and do it better.
“But now I know that I have to trust myself, trust that what I am doing is enough.”