PARIS, France — Speed climber Piper Kelly, of Indianapolis, and diver Daryn Wright, of Plainfield, were both eliminated Monday from the Paris Olympics.
Kelly said she badly injured her finger recently, impairing her in qualification and seeding heats at Le Bourget, France. She was ninth in the heats in 7.39 seconds.
She was next paired against Desak Made Rita Kusuma Dewi, an Indonesian who is reigning world champion. In November 2023, Desak was named to BBC’s 100 Women list.
Desak’s time was 6.38 to Kelly’s 8.43.
“I wish I could have had a better lap in the elimination round, whether I moved on or not,” Kelly said. “But I’m happy I can officially say I’m an Olympian now.
“One of my goals was to come out here and enjoy the experience as much as possible.”
Kelly, 24, who now trains in Salt Lake City, went to Irvington Preparatory Academy for high school and graduated from Xavier University. She secured her Olympic spot by winning a gold medal at the Pan American Games.
Wright, 20, a Purdue diver, barely made it to the Olympics and then barely missed semifinals. She had to wait for a quota spot to open after she finished second in the U.S. trials at Knoxville, Tenn.
She was 19th in qualifying on the 10-meter platform at Saint-Denis with a score of 272.25, and 18 moved to semifinals.
The other American, Delaney Schnell, was 17th with 278.15 and then 15th in semis with 271.95.
Wright was eighth after the first of five rounds, a forward 3 ½ somersault scoring 63.00. She dropped to 22nd after her fourth dive and, despite a 62.40 score on her fifth, fell one spot short.
Also on 10-meter were two of Wright's Purdue teammates – Jaye Patrick, of Latvia, and Maycey Vieta, of Puerto Rico – who were 22nd and 24th, respectively.
Contact WTHR correspondent David Woods at dwoods1411@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidWoods007.