Team GB diving sensation Jack Laugher opens up struggle before Tokyo glory

In the dark days, when the terror coursed through his veins as he perched on the diving board, Jack Laugher would cry himself to sleep.

There were no tears on Wednesday night. A 3m springboard bronze, following a faith-restoring 120 minutes in which only two near-perfect Chinese rivals scored higher, served as the world’s best sleeping pill.

After plunging from grace following gold and silver in Rio, falling so far he considered quitting the sport just months ago, this was more like it for the Yorkshire lad who forgot his lines and remembered them in the nick of time.

When he left Brazil the world was at Laugher’s feet. But at the 2019 World Championships in South Korea came a final dive that would haunt him for the next two years.

Jack Laugher soaked up the moment after taking a bronze medal in Tokyo – but the path he travelled prior to the Games often left him in a dark place and questioning himself

‘I had no idea where I was when I was spinning around,’ the Harrogate-born 26-year-old explained. ‘I kicked to the floor, landed flat on my back, not only embarrassed myself but I cost myself the gold medal.

‘I was winning by 30 or 40 points against the Chinese which was unbelievable and I just had a shocker. I embarrassed myself with my final dive and the mistakes and the failure that I had there, it crushed me, it really, really crushed me. It put me in a place that was just terrible.

‘I cried myself to sleep quite a few times. I had a lot of sleepless nights because I still made that same mistake.’

Unfortunately, it was just the start. ‘Until two months ago at the Europeans I did the exact same thing,’ Laugher added. ‘I scored eight points on the preliminary in the back three-and-a-half (somersault) because I had no idea where I was. I had no confidence in myself, anxiety through the roof and I was physically scared to do the dive.’

There is something brutal about the way the scores are relayed in diving. One can only imagine the impact on Laugher as he emerged from the water to hear ‘2s’ and ‘3s’ over the speaker instead of the usual ‘9s’ and ‘9.5s’.

The Team GB star won the bronze medal for Team GB in the men’s 3m springboard final

It is to his credit that he can speak so openly about a harrowing experience. ‘I can’t tell you how hard it is going to training every single day being scared of doing a skill because you don’t know where you are,’ he said. 

‘It is so hard to throw yourself off a diving board while your heart is racing.’

Laugher’s description of how Britain’s most successful diver hit rock bottom was as eloquent as it was honest. Redemption in the arena followed by revelation in the mixed zone. 

‘I wanted to quit this year, quite a few times,’ he revealed. ‘It has been awful and I’ve hated it.’

It comes as no surprise that Laugher has sympathy for Simone Biles, the American gymnast who suffered similar trauma before coming back to win bronze.

Cameras captured the emotional moment Laugher celebrated with his coach Adam Smallwood after finishing third in the Men’s 3m Springboard Diving Final

‘I can’t tell you how hard it is and it’s very hard for people to understand,’ he explained. 

‘I’ve made the same mistake over and over again and I just thought I’ve had a long and prosperous career, maybe this is a sign I’ve lost it, I’ve lost my mojo and I don’t know what I’m doing any more.

‘It’s interesting to see a very similar thing happen with Simone Biles. I have a lot of empathy with her situation. 

‘I can only imagine how hard it is for her being the best in the world by a long shot and struggling with something that she’s found so natural all her life. It’s a very similar situation that I found myself in the past two years.’

His support group, which includes girlfriend, fellow diver and fellow Yorkie Lois Toulson, stepped up. ‘It does get better,’ Laugher said. 

‘The work that we’ve done after the Europeans with my team, with my psychologist, with my coach, my friends and family, has got me into a place where I feel confident in myself again, I feel relaxed, I feel good, I feel like I’m back again.’

Laugher credits his girlfriend, fellow diver Lois Toulson (right), as a main source of strength

Toulson, who dives on Wednesday, takes much of the credit. ‘My girlfriend is a rock to me,’ Laugher said. 

‘She is everything to me, she is my soundboard, when I’m having a bad day I just talk at her. Without her, I honestly don’t think I’d be here today doing this sport. It’s been really, really rough and she’s been fantastic.’

Laugher’s telling of his story was as eloquent as his performance in the arena. Over six rounds of the highest quality he delivered 518 points. 

Half a dozen times the small British contingent at the side of the pool, which included a crocheting Tom Daley, rose to its feet. But it was not enough. China’s Xie Siyi, who makes it look easy, finished on 558.75 to take gold.

Team-mate Zongyuan Wang, with 534.90, came closest to matching him and took silver, leaving Laugher with the most creditable of third-placed finishes. Team GB’s James Heatly finished ninth.

China’s tearful two-time world champion Xie Siyi however took a comfortable gold medal

Compatriot Zongyuan meanwhile took the silver medal after grabbing 102.60 in his final dive

The pictures, as they often do, told a thousand words. The sight of Laugher clutching his bronze, sheer relief etched on his face, a million miles from the depths of just three months ago. 

‘I feel relaxed,’ he added. ‘I feel good, I feel like I’m back again — and I will sleep tonight.’