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Noah Williams believes he would “choke” if he had to recreate the clutch last dive that won him Olympic bronze in the men’s 10m platform final.
Having claimed synchronised silver alongside Tom Daley at Paris 2024, Williams scraped into the top-12 for the individual final, where he sat in fifth spot with just a couple of dives left.
But errors from those above him left the door ajar for Williams, who was awarded two 90-plus scores including a best of 94.35 points from his forward four and a half somersaults concluding dive.
When asked whether producing when it counts in such a high-pressure environment augurs well for his future, the 24-year-old Londoner doubts he would be so calm and collected again.
He told the PA news agency: “I don’t think so. Since I’ve done it, I’ve been genuinely thinking that if I’d had another opportunity to go and do it now, would I do it again? I reckon I’d choke, I don’t know.
“I say I get lucky and people say ‘no, you didn’t get lucky, you’ve obviously worked hard for it’ and I know I have.
“For it to come together in that moment, I’m sure there’s a slight bit of luck but I don’t know if I could do that again, there was so much pressure, it was crazy.
“I genuinely didn’t expect this. I feel like everyone says that but that’s the truth. It’s just a huge shock because I didn’t expect it.”
Williams feels he owes his couple of medals to the influence of Daley, who effectively reversed a retirement decision he had not publicly announced to compete in the French capital.
Training alongside the five-time Olympic medallist has given Williams an insight into what it takes to thrive at the highest level.
Williams added: “He goes above and beyond in everything he does, that made me realise doing the bare minimum isn’t going to cut it.
“People may think it sounds obvious but when I’m getting told by a coach what to do, before I’d just do it because that’s what I have to do. Seeing him doing what he gets told and then he’ll do extra and he’ll do it perfectly.
“It made me realise that’s what you’ve got to do to become a champion.”
