Laugher seals Olympic silver

17 Aug 2016

Jack Laugher completed a historic diving double at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games as he added 3m individual silver to his synchro gold to give Team GB 50 medals.

Laugher began his second Olympic campaign in perfect style claiming gold in the 3m synchro and returned four days later to start his individual medal bid.

The 21-year-old advanced out of the preliminary in seventh but suffered a scare in the semi-final of the 3m springboard, scraping through to the final as the 12th and final qualifier.

In the final Laugher executed nearly all six dives perfectly with three scoring over 90, as he claimed silver with a score of 523.85.

His best dive came in the fifth round, a Forward 4 ½ Somersaults tucked where he scored 96.90.

Silver for Laugher marks Britain’s third diving medal at the Games, making the best result event for Team GB diving history.

Laugher said: “I always knew I could medal at these Olympic Games my performances have been on the up since 2013 and 2014. I have been rising each year but obviously doing it is a completely different story.

“There are so many nerves, pressure and weather conditions around these Olympics, it is really hard to get on the board and do it and I showed that in the semi-final in the morning, I almost didn’t make the final.

“I came out in the final and did my best and it really has paid off with a fantastic performance and something to remember for the rest of my life.

“My coach tried to turn the semi-final performance into a positive and make me feel good about it. He said I would be able to apply pressure to the field which I think I did, my first dive was good and after that I had some really good dives.”