Jack Laugher completed a remarkable 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 with best friend Chris Mears and returned four days later to start his individual medal bid.
The 21-year-old advanced out of the preliminary in seventh but suffered an almighty scare in the semi-final of the 3m springboard, scraping through to the final as the 12th and final qualifier.
Laugher dropped three of his dives in the semi-final in the morning but executed nearly all six in the final perfectly in the evening, three scoring over 90, as he claimed silver with a 523.85.
Silver for Laugher marks Britain’s third medal in diving at the Games with Tom Daley and Goodfellow winning 10m synchro bronze and also Team GB’s 50th medal of Rio 2016 overall.
“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. It was my personal worst score since London 2012 where I actually failed a dive. It was a bit of a shocker; 60 points less than I have scored in ages.
“I had luck on my side and I was in that final and that was when I could really let loose, there was no pressure, no nerves it was just me on the diving board and that is it.
“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.”
Laugher has shown signs that his historic Olympic medal haul in Rio was coming, winning multiple medals at all the major championships leading to the Games.
That reads as three at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, two gold, two at the 2015 World Championships and two at the European Championships in London back in ay, one gold.
However Laugher knew delivering on his potential on the biggest stage of them all at Rio 2016, where the Maria Lenk Aquatics Centre is outdoors, would be a different task altogether.
“I always knew I could medal at these Olympic Games my performance have been on the up since 2013 and 2014. I have been rising each year but obviously doing it is a completely different story,” he said.
“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.”