Instead, the 24-year-old took time off, found a way back, then she climbed the stairs of the 10m platform at the Maria Lenk Aquatic Centre and stormed into Friday morning's semi-finals at the Rio Olympics.

"I definitely have been thinking about her," Wu said of her late sister as the sun set on Day 12. "It's been really hard. I achieved something so big and to not be able to share it with someone you're that close to … I know she's always with me and I have her now in a way I didn't have before. I get to share this in a different way with her."

Wu finished the preliminary rounds in fourth position with 342.80 points from her five dives, while teammate Brittany O'Brien – a late inclusion after London silver medallist Brittany Broben suffered a shoulder injury – snuck through to the next stage in 17th with a total score of 290.30.

You never know with a fickle sport like diving, but it already appears to be a battle for bronze with two Chinese teenagers dominating. Yajie Si, 17, qualified in first position with 397.45 while 15-year-old favourite Qian Ren (385.80) finished second.

Wu has come a long way since her appearance at the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games as a 13-year-old. Two years later she won an Olympic silver medal in Beijing in the 10m platform.

She was fourth in the event in London and now – at the age of 24 – is one of the leaders of Australia's diving team.

She came to Rio with a heavy heart. After Kirsten's death in 2014, Wu took time off to be with her family.

Her coach Chava Sobrino said last year: "I thought we lost her – I thought that was it for her. But now I know Melissa better. She never gave up. You don't understand or you don't believe the amount of strength that somebody that size can have. It's just incredible. She's the perfect example of a strong athlete."

She has a tattoo that reads, "Only as much as I dream can I be", and before coming to Rio said she would have a small photo frame of a picture with Kirsten sitting on her bedside table.

"I appreciate these Olympics a lot more because I have been through a lot these last few years," Wu said. "To be able to overcome that and see what I am made of is a huge achievement. I'm finally proud of myself, it's taken a while, but you take the good with the bad."

Earlier, Russian diver Yulia Timoshinina caused the crowd to fall silent when she did a bellyflop on her second dive.

Attempting a reverse with two-and-a-half somersaults, she over-rotated and when she left the pool sat with her head in her hands. She was awarded a score of 14.

Brazil's Ingrid Oliveira also fluffed one of her dives, landing on her back.

Oliveira was at the centre of controversy earlier in the week when her synchronised diving partner Giovanna Pedroso accused her of not having her mind on the job because of a "marathon night of sex" with canoeist Pedro Goncalves, who is also Brazilian. Pedroso vowed to never dive with Oliveira again.

Egypt's Maha Abdel Salam also found trouble, clipping her foot on the platform on her second dive.

"Every diver has been through that," Wu said. "I don't have those shockers as much. It does hurt when you do it."