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A disappointed Jack Laugher said the emotions of the Olympics got the better of him after finishing seventh in the 3m springboard final. The four-time Olympic medallist, who won bronze alongside Anthony Harding in the synchronised event last week, was out of the running at the halfway stage and ended up well short of the podium, while teammate Jordan Houlden was fifth.
Laugher, 29, also expressed doubt over whether he would appear at another Olympics following a “difficult” final display at Paris 2024.
Team GB have enjoyed a memorable Games in the diving pool, winning four medals behind a dominant China team who have swept all six golds so far. Laugher was unable to keep up with winner Xie Siyi and runner-up Zonguan, while Mexico’s Osmar Olvera Ibarra claimed bronze with an impressive display.
Laugher’s chances were all but over a disastrous third attempt - an inward 3 1⁄2 somersaults - that left a huge slash kicking up behind him and resulted in marks of 3s and 3.5s. In the stands, Harding and other members of the Team GB diving squad had their hands in their hands and Laugher was unable to recover after the miss left him eighth at the halfway mark.
“It was the nail in the coffin moment at that point,” said Laugher, who admitted to saying some “horrible things” underwater after the 35-point dive that cost him a shot at an Olympic medal.
“I gave it my everything, and I really put my all on the line and and unfortunately, it didn’t go well. I wish at that point I could have pulled out, but I’m really happy that I continued on because, you know, I am a fantastic athlete, and I always see things through. It just wasn’t the fairytale I wanted to be.
“I’m sad, obviously. I knew coming into this what I could do, and I think that potentially, in the preliminary rounds and semi final rounds, I was just taking it as it comes and focusing on myself. I think [in the final] I just let emotion get the better of me. I think I wanted the end result too much and potentially focused on that a little bit too much over the process than I’d normally would.”
Laugher has completed at every Olympics since London 2012, when he was 15, and only Tom Daley has had more success for Team GB since his Olympics with five medals overall. While Daley competed at his fifth Games in Paris, Laugher would have the chance to join him if he competes in Los Angeles in 2028.
“Who knows what the next four years are gonna hold for me,” he said.
“I have no idea what the future is gonna hold. Osmar for example, the guy who came third, two years ago I’d never heard of him and now he’s top three in the world. Diving changes very quickly and we might have something like that happen in Britain. Who knows who’s going to bump me out of my place.”
Houlden, 26, was satisfied with his Olympics debut. “It was a great achievement to finish fifth and to make it to the final,” he said. “That was my main aim: make it to the final and I did it. I came in here guns blazing. I know I can do a lot better - there’s some dives that could have been sharper, a lot better, but I’m still very happy with fifth. Fifth at the Olympics, it’s not too bad.”
