European Championships 2018: Jack Laugher and duo Toulson and Cheng win golds
- Published
2018 European Championships |
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Venues: Glasgow and Berlin Dates: 2-12 August |
Coverage: Live across BBC TV, BBC Radio 5 live and sports extra plus the BBC Sport website with further coverage on BBC iPlayer, Red Button, Connected TVs and mobile app. |
Britain's Jack Laugher took gold in the 1m springboard final at the European Championships after Eden Cheng and Lois Toulson won the 10m synchronised.
James Heatly secured bronze behind GB team-mate Laugher, who won the Commonwealth title in April.
Olympic 3m synchro champion Laugher won by 13 points, with Scot Heatly's final dive moving him up from fifth to third.
Cheng, 15, and Toulson, 18, overtook Russia and Germany on their last dive, having been fifth at the midway point.
"Lois calmed me down - I was a nervous wreck before we dived," Cheng said.
Toulson told BBC Sport: "We were just happy to come here and compete to get experience because we only starting diving together earlier this year, so to win is amazing."
In only their second event together, the pair got the 68 points required from their final dive to finish with a score of 289.74 from their five dives, beating second-placed Russia by just over a point.
Cheng was making her senior debut after becoming European junior platform champion last summer, while Toulson will compete in the 10m platform on Wednesday.
For Englishman Laugher, 23, and Heatly, 21, it was a repeat of the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast, where they also came first and third respectively. World bronze medallist Giovanni Tocci split the Britons to take silver.
"It was not my best performance and not as good as the Commonwealths but I am happy to come out on top again," said Laugher.
"This isn't an Olympic event and not the one I would consider my top priority but every single competition I enter, I want to win. It is a great event to shake off the cobwebs."
Laugher will also compete in the 3m springboard and the synchronised 3m springboard alongside Chris Mears, an event in which they are Olympic champions.
'A pair who could challenge for major honours' - analysis
Nick Hope, BBC Olympic sports reporter
This was a phenomenal performance from Eden and Lois, a British pair who live at opposite ends of the country and have had limited training time together since being paired up for the first time after the Commonwealth Games in April.
Leeds-based Lois is only 18 and took on an unfamiliar role as the 'voice of experience' in the pair as 15-year-old Eden, based at Crystal Palace, made her major event debut.
Granted, there will be tougher challenges ahead but the way they fought back from low-scoring dives early in the final shows they have character to back up the potential we witnessed.
- Published8 August 2018