Rio Olympics: Jack Laugher to leap out of Tom Daley’s shadow – but keen not to make a Splash! away from the sport
JACK LAUGHER is ready to step out of Tom Daley’s shadow in Rio.
Just don’t expect the Yorkshire diver, 21, to start making a Splash! outside of the sport like his pal.
Laugher — now a European champ — is one of SunSport’s 12 “ChaRIOts of Fire” tipped to shine at the Olympics next month.
And he is arguably Britain’s best chance of a diving gold — despite Daley, 22, being GB’s poster boy for nearly a decade.
Daley competed in the Beijing Games aged 14, won world gold at 15 and bronze at London 2012 before landing a TV role on now-defunct celebrity diving show Splash!
Yet new hope Laugher, who once did a photoshoot for Gay Times mag, is not keen on following Daley into showbiz.
He said: “You won’t see me do anything like Splash! — I’ve got different plans in my life.
“I’m not really about that, the fame and celebrity.
“I enjoy keeping to myself, spending time with people I love, like my girlfriend, family and friends. I’d hate to get my photo taken on the street, it’s not what I’m about.
“I’m not shying away from it — it’s nice to have a following who take an interest.
“But at the moment I am really enjoying training hard and concentrating on diving.
“It’s nice still having Tom around, so I’m not at the forefront of it. Everyone is still looking his way.”
Laugher, pronounced “Law”, competes in Rio’s three-metre springboard and the synchronised event with partner and housemate Chris Mears.
Daley, meanwhile, will dive individually in the ten-metre platform and in the synchro with Daniel Goodfellow.
Laugher said: “Tom is ten months older, we’ve been best friends since we were little, and it’s great having someone there who’s been through it all.
“World champion, Olympic medallist. He’s done fantastic things for the sport.”
Laugher won bronze in the synchro and individual in the 2015 World Championships, and took synchro gold and individual silver in May’s Europeans in London.
RELATED STORIES
So he goes into the Games as one of Team GB’s top medal prospects, unlike at London 2012 when he failed to make the semi-final stage.
Laugher said: “I know there is a lot more expectation now.
“Before I was just a young kid but now I am four years older and more experienced.”
Laugher’s A-levels are on hold until after the Games but his plans may be scuppered depending on his Rio success.
He added: “A gold medal would be life-changing.
“It would completely change my life forever and really spur me on for the next four years going into Tokyo.”
JACK LAUGHER joined the lottery-funded diving programme in 2008, aged 13, and it allowed him to move near his Leeds training HQ - avoiding hours of public transport every day.
The National Lottery has invested £105million in Leeds sports clubs and facilities, with £4m going to diving since 1994.