Team GB’s success on the diving boards continued, as all four 3m springboard divers continued their individual campaigns at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Rio 2016 synchro champion Jack Laugher and team-mate Jordan Houlden opened the morning by qualifying for the men’s final before Grace Reid and Yasmin Harper safely navigated the women’s preliminaries in the afternoon.
Laugher led the British scores at the Aquatics Centre, qualifying third behind fellow Tokyo medallists Wang Zongyuan and Xie Siyi thanks to his score of 476.05.
The 29-year-old won bronze three years ago and has designs on challenging the top two again in Paris.
“I’d love it to be me,” he said. “Obviously I try and bring my best every time, and I am in admiration of how good they are, but I know that if I turn up and do everything as good as I can I’ve got a shot at trying to beat them.
Spot the difference 👀#Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/Nf9u713o55
— Team GB (@TeamGB) August 7, 2024
“I started really strong, had a slight dip in the middle and brought it back with two solid dives at the end so I’m overall really happy with my performance and there is still loads left in the tank for tomorrow.”
Laugher is joined in Thursday’s final by Houlden after he qualified fifth with 445.55 to book his place in a maiden Olympic final.
“That was great, I enjoyed every moment of it,” he said. “I felt a little more nervous than I normally do, but I think I did pretty well.
“It's job done, got into a final, that was the main goal. I'll just give it all my best now heading into the Olympic final, that's all I can do.”
A place in the final continued the success for Sheffield divers, following 3m synchro bronze for Harper earlier in the Games before she followed Houlden in progressing in her individual event.
Houlden added: “We're both proud, we're both Sheffield born and bred - Sheffield Diving Club has done a lot for us as well to be able to facilitate the things we've needed, and here we are.
“My two sisters and someone from Sheffield Diving Club were in the crowd, that was great. It feels great to represent Sheffield and to do Sheffield proud.”
Harper booked her place in the women’s semi-finals with a ninth-place finish in the preliminaries, scoring 295.75, as she bids to add an individual medal to the synchro bronze she won with Scarlett Mew Jensen.
“That was slightly tense, I definitely feel the stress at a prelim event but had to get through that one. It was a steady performance and I am pleased with that," she said.
“I was at the end of the order, which I don’t mind too much because you have to wait around regardless. Sometimes I look at the scoreboard, and sometimes I don’t. Today, I was just going through and not paying too much attention and trying to be steady."
Harper will be joined by Reid, who finished fifth with a score of 303.25 and is targeting her first medal at her third Games.
She said: “It was nice and steady, I have had a long wait since the competition started. I have been twiddling my thumbs and been itching to go. I am really pleased to come in and do five solid dives. “I went back to London for a bit of an escape mentally, more than anything else, and that was amazing, just to get out of the bubble for a little bit and re-set. And then when I came back in, I could hit the ground running.
“It is just fine-tuning now. My dives are really solid, but there are a few tweaks to do to improve. Hopefully I can just finish out the finishing touches as we progress.
“At the same time, every Games is different. Rio to Tokyo to Paris is very different, it is very hard to compare them. This is a standalone competition and the diving board is the same, the dives are the same and that is what is important.”
Sportsbeat 2024