Wu finally proud of herself at Rio

The little girl on the 10m platform has finally grown up.

At 13, pint-sized Australian diver Melissa Wu looked at risk of being blown away by a stiff breeze on international debut.

Now 24, Wu may be only 152cm but she is standing a little taller at the Rio Olympics.

At her third Games, Wu said she was "finally proud of herself" after almost walking away from the sport due to a family tragedy.

Her younger sister Kirsten took her own life in 2014.

Wu hasn't stopped thinking of her since.

She was again on her mind on Wednesday when she cruised into the Rio Olympic 10m platform semi-finals.

"It is so hard to be able to achieve something so big and not be able to share it with someone who is so close," Wu said.

"I know she is always with me. I have her now in a way I didn't before.

"I get to share it a different way with her."

Wu almost broke down when she spoke of her sister.

But she quickly steeled herself.

She has done it a lot over the past three years.

Besides her personal tragedy, she has also battled chronic back problems since 2013.

"I appreciate these Olympics because I have been through a lot over the past few years," she said.

"To be able to overcome that, to see what I have been made of, has been a huge achievement.

"I am finally proud of myself but it has taken a while."

Wu is tipped to add to her Beijing Olympic 10m synchro silver at Rio.

She placed fourth in the 28-strong preliminary round.

But she seemed more proud of her teammate, rookie Brittany O'Brien who placed 17th to just make the top 18 cut for Thursday's semis.

Wu embraced a relieved O'Brien when the semi-finals qualifiers flashed on Maria Lenk Aquatic Centre's big screen.

O'Brien, 18, earned her Olympic debut barely a week before the Games as a last-minute replacement for injured London silver medallist Brittany Broben.

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