Pickering made the top-eight final and finished fifth at the competition - the last qualification event for the Tokyo Games - in Brescia, Italy on the weekend.

She said she was "over the moon" and "very pleased with how I went this competition".

Her previous best was eighth at the most recent World Cup event at Azerbaijan in February 2020, before the pandemic shut down international competition.

The 20-year-old was ranked 15^th in the world heading into the crucial meet in Italy and needed to rise into the top 14 overall to have any hope of making the Olympics.

She finished with a score of 53,120, just behind New Zealand's Madaline Davidson (53,375), who Pickering was battling with for the Oceania spot at the Games.

Davidson was ranked 14th before the contest and has strengthened her position. Pickering now hopes to finish high enough overall to secure another Oceania quota spot in the 14-woman field for Tokyo.

Pickering and Belmont-based Australian team coach Brett Austine are now in Portugal for another World Cup contest. However, results there will not count towards Olympic selection.

They will remain in Portugal until the Olympic selection calculations are finalised, likely on June 30.

Pickering also competed in the synchronised women's pairs in Italy with Kira Ward. They were sixth in the final.