BUENOS AIRES 2018: Alysha Koloi has been selected as one half of Australia’s diving team for the Buenos Aires 2018 Youth Olympic Games (YOG).
At just 16 years-old, Koloi already boasts triple Junior National Titles along with two bronze medals from this year’s FINA World Junior Diving Championships, but the best is yet to come for this rising Aussie star as she prepares to represent her country in October.
“When I found out I had qualified for YOG, I was very excited. It was a dream come true!” Koloi said, thinking back to the Junior World Championships, which doubled as the Youth Olympic qualification event.
“I knew I had to perform well and medal at the event, so when I managed to secure bronze I was hoping it was enough for a spot on the team
“It was actually my very first Junior Worlds Competition and I had just come off a great win, coming first in Australia on my 1m and 3m events at Junior Nationals, so I knew if I could just be consistent I could have a shot at placing” she said.
Despite her success, diving is still a relatively new sport for Koloi, who spent most of her life pre-diving as an elite gymnast, before injury cut her gymnastics career short and spring-boarded her down a new path.
“I started elite gymnastics when I was 5 years old and competed up until juniors. I achieved amazing results such as Junior National Champion in IDP3, 5, 6 and 8 and Junior National Floor Champion in IDP10,” the multi-talented teen said.
“I actually broke my finger a day before competition, so was only able to compete in floor, beam and vault with my fingers strapped. Later, I sustained a tear to my hip flexor which made it difficult to keep up with my leaps flexibility.
“My younger sister did diving, so when I was 14 I decided to give it a try and really loved it. I was asked to trial and the rest is history!”
The Queenslander believes having that strong foundation in gymnastics made the transition to diving that much easier.
“Coming from a gymnastics background definitely helps. I already had aerial awareness and I had learnt doubles in tuck, pike and twisting so it was just a matter of learning how to land on my head, use the power in my legs on the board and change my arm and chest positions as they are slightly different compared to gymnastics,” she said.
Koloi has been lucky enough to train with the likes of Rio Olympic bronze and Commonwealth Games silver medallist, Maddison Keeney and her Commonwealth Games gold and silver medal teammate Georgia Sheehan.
She said both athletes have provided her with invaluable wisdom throughout her career.
“Maddison and Georgia have taught me about persistence, hard work and to never giving up on your goals. Not only that, but they have also taught me how to block out those around you, focus on yourself and not worry about others negative opinions.
“Being mentally strong is so important, so having a strong mindset, believing in myself and working on relaxation techniques before a competition are just as big a focus for me as working on my dives.”
Apart from finding success at YOG, Koloi’s biggest goal is to breakdown the gender stereotypes and compete with dives that are usually only performed by male divers.
“I would love to work towards being able to compete at the same difficulty as male divers do. To be the first woman to complete all dives on the male springboard list would be incredible.”
Koloi will be joined by 17-year old Commonwealth Games bronze medallist, Matthew Carter at Buenos Aires.
You can learn more about the YOG squad HERE
Liana Buratti
olympics.com.au
