Kurtis Mathews came out of retirement and had to knock himself into shape to rekindle an Olympic diving dream.
But all the "brutal" work to get back to his fighting weight has now been rewarded with a place in the semi-finals of the 3m springboard event at the Paris Aquatics Centre.
The 25-year-old Victorian-born, Sydney-based athlete qualified in eighth place to take his place in Wednesday's 18-man semis, looking in the sort of form to achieve his ambition of making Thursday's 12-man final.
