BEIJING - The medal hanging around his neck showed he had finished second in the three-metre springboard at the Olympic Games, but in Alexandre Despatie's heart he knew he had won a much bigger battle.
When Despatie pumped his fist in joy after his final dive Tuesday at the National Aquatics Centre he wasn't just celebrating his second career Olympic silver medal. He was celebrating a victory over injury and self doubt.
"My silver medal is gold to me because of all the bad things that happened to me this year," said the 23-year-old from Laval, Que. "I was able to get it together."
Despatie nailed his final dive -- a two-and-a-half somersault with two twists -- to hold off a challenge from defending world champion Qui Kai of China and finish with 536.65 points. His silver added to Canada's haul of four medals Tuesday.
China's He Chong won the gold with a dominating 572.90 points. Qin took bronze with 530.10.
Despatie shook off a miserable performance in Monday's preliminaries, where he dipped as low as 21st, to climb on the podium.
"I was very angry," Despatie said about his start to the competition. "I tried to stay calm but I was pissed because from the beginning I wanted to come here and right away show that foot injury was way behind me and I can dive.
"I didn't do as good as I wanted to. That was a turning point."
In the months leading up to the Games there were questions if Despatie would be healthy enough to dive in Beijing. Since February he's had a back problem.
A bad situation got worse in April when he fractured his right foot kicking a soccer ball during warm-ups. That caused him to miss seven weeks of training.
"The hardest part of coming back from that injury was mentally," Despatie said. "Physically we always do the training. Mentally it was very hard for me to stay positive and believe I was going to pull this off, believe that I was going to be able to come in, put six dives together, and perform."
Despatie remembered talking to his friend and fellow diver Arturo Miranda after his first day back on the board when his foot had healed.
"I felt like a beginner," he said. "There were days at the beginning where all my reflexes were gone, everything was gone.
"I remember the first day I started diving. After that practice I told Arturo `we're very far from the promised land my friend.' I had to stay calm and stay positive and believe in myself and believe I was going to be able to perform today. And I did."
The injury prevented him from competing at the Olympic diving trials. To be named to the Olympic team, Despatie had to attend the Canadian junior nationals in Thunder Bay, Ont., in early July and dive before a panel of judges to prove his fitness
Mitch Geller, Dive Canada's technical director, said even though the injury caused stress, it may have been a positive.
"It got him to really look inside himself and understand what he really wants to do," Geller said. "We wouldn't have had the guts to pull him off diving for the period of time he was off.
"The broken foot forced him into a whole other mindset. In some ways it was a bit of blessing in disguise. He was getting stale. He was struggling for motivation in practices. He was getting distracted by all the demands on his time. This sort of woke him up."
In the 12-man final, Despatie was third after his first of six dives. He moved into second place after the second dive, but never was able to catch He.
A large, noisy crowd jammed into the 17,000-seat Water Cube, the blue-sided building that looks like a parcel wrapped in bubble wrap, for the competition. The Chinese fans screamed with joy each time one of their divers performed.
A hearty contingent of Canadians waved Maple Leafs and cheered each of Despatie's dives.
Despatie wasn't aware that Qin could have caught him had he messed up his last dive.
"I never look at the score so I didn't know how far or how close everything was," he said. "When I stepped on that board my main focus was to stay focused on that dive and keep repeating to myself what I had to do to nail that dive."
Geller has watched Despatie mature from the shy, 13-year-old who won his first international event in the 10-metre tower at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Malaysia. He called Tuesday's performance something special.
"It's the best I've seen out of him," said Geller. "This was his best diving ever."
The powerful Chinese team has won gold in all six diving events at the Games. Qin's bronze was his second medal of the Games after taking gold with Wang Feng in the synchronized springboard.
"It is extremely hard to come into China and compete against them," said Despatie. "They are so strong already. Being home just makes them that much stronger."
Despatie said there were a some similarities and a lot of differences between the silver he won in Beijing and his second place in the same event four years ago in Athens.
At the 2004 Olympics, Despatie made a huge mistake on his third dive. He had to fight his way back into contention and needed to be almost perfect on his last dive to win silver.
"I was in a hole and had to dig myself back," he said. "Heading into this (Games) I was way deeper in the hole this year than I was in Athens and I dug myself back.
"It means that much more for this one."
Reuben Ross, Canada's other diver in the event, finished 18th with 395.85 points in the semifinal and failed to advance to the final. He was competing in his first Olympics
"It's a huge learning experience," said the 22-year-old from Butte, Sask., who hopes to return for the 2012 Games in London. "It's great to just get the experience of the Olympics and get myself in front of the judges."
