Commonwealth Games: Jack Laugher wins 1m springboard gold, James Heatly takes bronze
- Published
'Never in doubt' - Laugher defends 1m springboard title
English diver Jack Laugher retained his Commonwealth Games 1m springboard title and Scotland's James Heatly won bronze on Australia's Gold Coast.
Australia's James Connor took silver, 25.55 points behind Laugher.
Laugher, 23, eased to victory with 438.00 points from his six dives after qualifying in first place.
"I've only had a couple of weeks' training leading into this and defending a title is so tough, so I'm really proud," he told BBC Sport.
"I've been struggling with injuries all year, it's been a really terrible time."
Heatly, 20, becomes Scotland's first Commonwealth diving medallist since his late grandfather Sir Peter Heatly won gold in 1958.
Sir Peter won five Commonwealth medals in total, three of which were gold, between 1950 and 1958 before becoming chairman of the Commonwealth Games Federation from 1982 to 1990.
"My grandfather was my inspiration and he's the reason I'm doing this today," Heatly told BBC Sport.
"I'm a bit emotional right now because it means so much to me."
Jamaica's Yona Knight-Wisdom - who was born and lives in Leeds - finished fourth, while England's Ross Haslam slipped to seventh after a poor fifth dive.
Haslam's brother Jack placed 10th with Scotland's Lucas Thomson, 16, finishing 12th in his first Commonwealth Games final.
Laugher's medal was England's second in the diving pool, after team-mates Alicia Blagg and Katherine Torrance won silver in the women's synchronised 3m springboard.
Later on Wednesday, England's Robyn Birch and Lois Toulson finished fifth in the women's 10m synchronised platform final.
Malaysia comfortably won gold, adding to their Olympic silver medal from 2016, while Canada took the silver. Malaysia's second pair earned the bronze medal, edging out Australia by less than half a point.
- Published11 April 2018
