Athlete of the Year – Vote for Jack Laugher

1 Sep 2015

Jack Laugher really has enjoyed a standout year in terms of both domestic and international performances through 2015 and is a worthy candidate for Athlete of the Year.

Building on his international breakthrough in 2014, Laugher began with retaining his British title in the 3m Springboard before beginning his international competition at the FINA/NVC Diving World Series.

Laugher made an impact in the early legs with gold in Dubai which marked the first time he stood on top of an international podium. He quickly followed that up with another gold at the Kazan leg. The City of Leeds diver took his third gold in Windsor, Canada to build his confidence ahead of the vital World Championships in Kazan.

Laugher started of the competition with the 3m Synchro and alongside Chris Mears he won Great Britain’s first medal with their bronze. They also secured a quota spot for the country for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in the event.

In the 3m Springboard, Laugher returned to the podium once again as he took bronze behind the Olympic Champion Ilya Zakharov. With this medal he became the first man to win two medals at a World Championships and also secured an Olympic quota place for Great Britain in the event.

Laugher commented: “"The past year and a half has been absolutely fantastic. I got a bronze at the World Cup in Shanghai, followed by two Commonwealth medals as well, then being overall World Series champion. And a bronze today as well - I'm getting more confident with every competition I do and I'm still young.

"I've learned a lot from this and moving on to Rio, hopefully I can put those experiences and lessons into plan. Hopefully it's going to snowball and make me a better diver and a better competitor.

"I've been training hard throughout this year and it's time for a break but I'm really proud of what I've done this year and everything has gone the way I wanted it."