Jack David Laugher ( ; born 30 January 1995) is a British diver competing for Great Britain and England. A specialist on

springboard A springboard or diving board is used for diving and is a board that is itself a spring, i.e. a linear flex-spring, of the cantilever type. Springboards are commonly fixed by a hinge at one end (so they can be flipped up when not in use), and ...

, he competes in individual springboard events, and in synchronised events with Chris Mears,

Daniel Goodfellow Daniel Goodfellow (born 19 October 1996) is a British diver, two-time Commonwealth champion and Olympic bronze medalist. He first represented Great Britain as a senior at the 2013 European Diving Championships in the 10 m platform event and ...

and Anthony Harding. Laugher and Mears became Britain's first diving Olympic champions by winning a gold medal in the men's synchronised 3m springboard event at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

in Rio, an achievement many had expected double world 10m champion

Tom Daley Tom or TOM may refer to: * Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name) Characters * Tom Anderson, a character in ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' * Tom Beck, a character ...

would achieve first. A week later, Laugher won a silver in the men's individual 3m springboard at the same Games, becoming the first British diver to win multiple Olympic diving medals at the same Games. Laugher was a double Commonwealth Games champion for England at the 2014 Games in Glasgow, a double champion again at the 2022 Games in Birmingham (in 1m springboard and 3m synchro on both occasions), and a triple champion (1 metre springboard, 3 metre springboard and 3 metre synchro) in the 2018 Games at the Gold Coast. He was the first British diver to win two medals at the same World Championships, the 2015 World Championships. In 2015, Laugher won the overall title in the

FINA Diving World Series The FINA Diving World Series is a diving competition series held annually since 2007. This series is held around the world (the current series includes 4 events) where the divers collect points depending on their results to determine the World Seri ...

for 3-metre springboard.

Early life

Laugher was born on 30 January 1995 in

Harrogate Harrogate ( ) is a spa town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Harrogate in North Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is a tourist destination and its visitor at ...

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...

to David and Jackie Laugher. He was educated at

Ripon Grammar School Ripon Grammar School is a co-educational, boarding and day, selective grammar school in Ripon, North Yorkshire, England. It has been named top-performing state school in the north for nine years running by ''The Sunday Times''. It is one of the ...

, a co-educational

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...

Ripon Ripon () is a cathedral city in the Borough of Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England. The city is located at the confluence of two tributaries of the River Ure, the Laver and Skell. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, the city ...

, North Yorkshire. Laugher became interested in diving when he was seven during a family visit to Harrogate Hydro Swimming Pool and a lifeguard told him to go for diving lessons. He began to learn diving at the Harrogate and District Diving Club at the Hydro. He broke his upper arm when he was 14 during a trampolining competition, and had a metal plate inserted to hold his humerus bone together. Laugher has stated that his surname is pronounced 'Law'.

Diving career

2010–2011

Laugher won the one-metre and three-metre

titles at the 2010 European Junior Championships and the 2010 World Junior Championships. In September 2010, he competed at the World Junior Championships in

Tucson, Arizona , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

and won gold at both the 1m and 3m springboard events. In October that year, he represented England at the

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

where he was partnered with

Oliver Dingley Oliver Dingley (born 24 November 1992) is an international diver who represents Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, nor ...

in the synchro.

Greg Louganis Gregory Efthimios Louganis (; born January 29, 1960) is an American Olympic diver, LGBT activist, and author who won gold medals at the 1984 and 1988 Summer Olympics on the springboard and platform. He is the only man and the second diver in Ol ...

was reported as being impressed with Laugher's diving.

2012–2015

In 2012 Laugher was selected for the

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

2012 London Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

team. On 6 August 2012, he competed in the Men's 3-metre springboard, but he failed to make it to the semi-final stage. In October 2012, Laugher became the Junior World champion again, winning the 3m springboard in Adelaide, Australia. He won the 3m Synchro competition with

. Laugher first teamed up with Chris Mears in the 3-metre Springboard in 2013. In October 2013 he took on the role of Ambassador for the sport of VX. In July 2014, he won bronze in the 3m springboard at the World Cup held in Shanghai. Soon afterwards at the

2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games ( gd, Geamannan a' Cho-fhlaitheis 2014), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014, ( sco, Glesca 2014 or Glesga 2014; gd, Glaschu 2014), was an international multi-sport ev ...

, he won the gold medal in the 1m springboard, then a second gold in the 3m synchro with Chris Mears. At the 2015 World Championship in

Kazan Kazan ( ; rus, Казань, p=kɐˈzanʲ; tt-Cyrl, Казан, ''Qazan'', IPA: ɑzan is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan in Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka rivers, covering a ...

, Russia, Laugher and Mears won bronze in the 3m springboard synchro, thus qualifying for the Rio Olympics. Laugher then won a second bronze in the individual 3m springboard, making him the first Briton to win two medals in a World Championships.

2016 Olympics

In January 2016, Laugher suffered a foot injury while training. In May 2016, he won the 3m synchronised springboard at the European Championships in London with Mears, and a silver in the individual 3m springboard. At the 2016 Olympics, Laugher and Mears became the first ever diving gold medal winners for Great Britain in the men's synchronised 3-metre springboard. They scored 454.32, beating the American

Sam Dorman Sam Dorman (born August 30, 1991) is a retired American diver. He represented his country at the 2016 Summer Olympics where he, along with his diving partner Michael Hixon, won a silver medal in the 3-meter springboard synchro event. Dorman at ...

and

Michael Hixon Michael Hixon (born July 16, 1994) is an American diver. He is a two-time Olympic medalist, having won the silver medal with Sam Dorman in the men's synchronized 3-meter springboard event at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and the ...

(450.21) in silver medal position and the Chinese pair Qin Kai and

Cao Yuan Cao Yuan (; born 7 February 1995) is a Chinese diver and an Olympic gold medalist, having won three golds, one silver and one bronze in the Olympics. He has also won golds in diving at the World Championships and World Cups. Early life Cao ...

in bronze (443.70). Laugher also won silver medal in the individual 3-metre springboard.

2017

Laugher and Mears won three silvers in the 3m Synchro in four events of the Fina/NVC Diving World Series, two in China and one in Russia. However they finished out of the medal position in fourth at the

2017 World Aquatics Championships The 17th FINA World Championships ( hu, 2017-es úszó-világbajnokság) were held in Budapest, Hungary from 14 to 30 July 2017.

2018

At the

2018 Commonwealth Games The 2018 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXI Commonwealth Games and also known as Gold Coast 2018, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth that were held on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, bet ...

held on the

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, Laugher successfully defended his title on the 1m springboard. The next day, he added another gold after winning the 3m springboard event, then followed it up with a third gold of the Games after winning the men's 3-metre synchronised springboard with Chris Mears. Earlier in the year, Mears and Laugher also won a silver in 3-metre synchro springboard at the

2018 FINA Diving World Cup The 2018 FINA Diving World Cup took place in Wuhan, China, from 4 to 10 June 2018. It was the 21st edition of the Diving World Cup, and the seventh time that it had been held in China. The venue was the natatorium of Wuhan Sports Center. Schedu ...

held in

Wuhan Wuhan (, ; ; ) is the capital of Hubei, Hubei Province in the China, People's Republic of China. It is the largest city in Hubei and the most populous city in Central China, with a population of over eleven million, the List of cities in China ...

. He also won a bronze in individual 3m springboard at the same event. At the 2018 European Championships in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, Laugher won gold in the men's 1 metre springboard. He won a second gold in the men's 3-metre springboard, and added a silver to this tally in the championships with a second place in the 3-metre synchro springboard with Chris Mears. He won a total of 5 international titles in 2018, for which he was honoured with European male diver of the year a second time by Ligue Europeenne de Natation (LEN).

2019

Jack Laugher partnered with

Dan Goodfellow Daniel Goodfellow (born 19 October 1996) is a British diver, two-time Commonwealth champion and Olympic bronze medalist. He first represented Great Britain as a senior at the 2013 European Diving Championships in the 10 m platform event and ...

in men's synchronised 3m springboard since his regular partner Chris Mears had decided to take a break from competition and then retired. At the

2019 World Aquatics Championships The 2019 World Aquatics Championships were the 18th FINA World Aquatics Championships, held in Gwangju, South Korea from 12 to 28 July 2019. The city had previously hosted the 2015 Summer Universiade aquatics events in the same venues.

held in

Gwangju Gwangju () is South Korea's sixth-largest metropolis. It is a designated metropolitan city under the direct control of the central government's Home Minister. The city was also the capital of South Jeolla Province until the provincial office ...

, South Korea, he won silver with Goodfellow in the 3m synchronised. In his individual 3m springboard, after leading for much of the competition, he finished in the bronze position after an error in the final dive.

2021–22

At the 2021 FINA Diving World Cup held in Japan as an official test event for the

2020 Tokyo Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...

, Laugher and Goodfellow won gold in synchronised 3m springboard. Laugher also won silver 11 days later in men's 1m springboard at the

2020 European Aquatics Championships The 2020 European Aquatics Championships (also known as the 2021 European Aquatics Championships; 35th) were scheduled to take place in Budapest, Hungary, from 11 to 24 May 2020. However, on 5 May it was announced that the event had been postpon ...

. At the Tokyo Olympics, Laugher and Dan Goodfellow came 7th in the men's synchronised 3m springboard. He won the bronze medal in the individual 3m springboard. At the

2022 World Aquatics Championships The 2022 World Aquatics Championships, the 19th edition of the FINA World Aquatics Championships, were held in Budapest, Hungary, from 17 June to 3 July 2022. In March 2022, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, FINA banned both the Russian an ...

held in Budapest, Laugher partnered with Anthony Harding for the first time in an international competition, and won silver in the synchro 3m springboard event. Laugher also won an individual silver in the men's 1 m springboard, and a bronze in the 3m springboard event.

Personal life

Laugher started dating

Lois Toulson Lois Mae Toulson (born 26 September 1999) is a British diver. A specialist in the 10 metre platform, she won the gold medal at the inaugural European Games in 2015, and the senior European title in 2017. She competed in the women's synchroni ...

in early 2017. Laugher is supportive of the LGBT community and said: "I have quite a few gay friends, just from school and people I've met through diving and my journey. Everyone should feel comfortable to be gay and be who they are."

Honours

In 2017 Laugher won Diver of the Year at the British Swimming Awards. At the 2018 British Swimming Awards, he won both the Diving Athlete of the Year and the Overall Athlete of the Year. He was named European male diver of the year for 2016 by Ligue Europeenne de Natation (LEN), and again in 2018. Laugher, along with Mears, was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE) in the

2017 New Year Honours The 2017 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours were awarded as part of the New Year celebrati ...

for services to diving.

Diving achievements

References

External links

* * * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Laugher, Jack 1995 births Living people English male divers Olympic divers of Great Britain Olympic medalists in diving Olympic gold medallists for Great Britain Olympic silver medallists for Great Britain Olympic bronze medallists for Great Britain Divers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Divers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Divers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games medallists in diving Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England Commonwealth Games silver medallists for England Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for England Divers at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Divers at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Divers at the 2022 Commonwealth Games World Aquatics Championships medalists in diving Sportspeople from Harrogate People educated at Ripon Grammar School Members of the Order of the British Empire Divers at the 2010 Commonwealth Games