A blistering display from Eden Cheng in the women’s 10m platform final was worth its weight in gold as a scintillating win for the young diver earnt Team GB an unnamed quota spot for Paris 2024.
The 20-year-old finished top in qualifying after a stunning back three and a half somersault, worth 74.25 points.
In the early stages of the final Cheng recorded three consistent dives, which kept her within medal contention.
It was then in the latter stages of the competition that the Commonwealth Games silver medallist hit her peak, delivering a masterful back two and a half somersault, one and a half twist to add 73.60 points to her overall score.
It was one of the hardest dives of the evening and put Cheng atop the leaderboard, less than one point above silver medallist Christina Wassen of Germany whose consistent performance knocked Italy’s Sarah Jodoin Di Maria down to bronze.
“Very happy, slightly relieved, a bit emotional – I’m feeling a lot of emotions right now!” said Cheng.
“I’m grateful that I had the opportunity to be selected for this team and to be in the competition amongst friends and fierce competitors.
“It’s boosting my confidence and showing me that my resilience is still at a very high level through the rollercoaster of competition.
“There was pressure, but for me there’s an advantage diving after someone as it gives me motivation that I want to do it better and that spurred me on.”
Team-mate Robyn Birch maintained her qualifying form to finish fifth with 289.25 points.
Cheng’s victory was Team GB's second gold of the games, after Kieran Reilly flipped his way to victory in the BMX freestyle on day two.
In sync Reid and Heatly take silver
Grace Reid and James Heatly maintained their medal streak in the mixed synchronised 3m with an impressive silver in Krakow.
The pair picked up silverware at the World Championships and European Championships last summer, claiming a hat-trick of medals with gold at the Commonwealth Games.
How to win mixed 3m synchro silver💦
— Team GB (@TeamGB) June 23, 2023
A story told in four parts...#EuropeanGames2023 pic.twitter.com/catLdF4qAJ
They’ve resumed that fine run of form with a podium finish at the European Games.
After three rounds of brilliant diving, Reid and Heatly found themselves top of the standings, but dropped out of medal contention following their fourth attempt.
However, the pair put in a sublime final dive to fly back up the standings, finishing with a total of 283.89 points to take home a superb silver.
They trailed the Italian pair of Chiara Pellacani and Matteo Santoro who claimed gold with a winning score of 291.39.
“The Mixed 3m is a really good event because every pairing there has a possibility of winning so that makes it a really exciting event,” Reid said.
“Today Italy dived so well and really deserved the gold.
“James and I really enjoyed the event, pleased with silver, obviously would have loved to have won but we’ve both got a couple more events to come and still super excited.”
Heatly, a three time medallist at the inaugural European Games in Baku, revealed he was happy to add another medal to the collection.
“We haven’t trained much together since the European Championships last year so we’re really happy with another solid performance and a medal," he said.
Sportsbeat 2023