MIAMI (Dec. 18, 2019) - FIU swim and dive's Maha Gouda punched her ticket for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, as the Panther won gold at the African Games for the 10-meter platform event.

"Maha did a great job. This is not only for herself, but it's also a big step for FIU," Diving Coach Nick Yang said. "We still have a lot of competition left in the season and this is only going to build her confidence heading into conference and the NCAAs."

Along with qualifying for the Olympics in the 10-meter event, Gouda won gold in the 3-meter mixed synchro and 3-meter women synchro. 

The trip to the Olympics will mark Gouda's second appearance, as she represented her home country of Egypt at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio. In 2016, Gouda became the first Egyptian female to qualify and compete in the Olympic Games and Youth Olympics. At the Rio Summer Olympics, she competed from the 10-meter platform after qualifying as a top-18 diver.

Since beginning her career at FIU, Gouda became the youngest All-American in program history and was named the C-USA Diver of the Year. At the conference championships in February, Gouda won all three diving events.

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