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| Human Interest | |
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Further Personal Information | |
| Residence | Burghfield, ENG |
General Interest | |
| Hobbies | DJing. (telegraph.co.uk, 11 Aug 2016; Twitter profile, 20 May 2018) |
| Injuries | He was suffering from back problems in the lead-up to the 2017 World Championships in Budapest, Hungary. (yorkshirepost.co.uk, 16 Jul 2017) He suffered ankle injuries in October 2013 that affected his training into 2014. (localberkshire.co.uk, 02 May 2014) He had a bout of tonsillitis during the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, India. (metro.co.uk, 22 Nov 2011) During the 2009 Australian Youth Olympic Festival in Sydney, he collapsed the morning after injuring himself during a practice dive. He was taken to hospital, where doctors were unaware of his training accident and originally thought he was suffering from meningitis. Internal bleeding caused his condition to deteriorate and surgeons removed his spleen, which they believed ruptured in the training dive. Two days later, he was discharged but suffered a relapse and was rushed back to hospital suffering from seizures. He was discharged a month later. (metro.co.uk, 22 Nov 2011; olympics.com.au, 24 Jun 2011) |
Sport Specific Information | |
| Why this sport? | His stepmother sent him to lessons because he used to jump around the house too much. |
General Interest | |
| Hero / Idol | Russian diver Dmitri Sautin. (English Aquatics Team Media Guide, 2010) |
Sport Specific Information | |
| When and where did you begin this sport? | He first tried the sport at age six when his stepmother enrolled him in courses at a diving club in Reading, England. |
Further Personal Information | |
| Occupation | Musician |
General Interest | |
| Sporting philosophy / motto | "Keep going when it's tough and always listen to your coach." (swimming.org, 17 Feb 2012) |
| Other information | RETIREMENT He retired from competitive diving in August 2019 to focus on a music career. "I've had a career full of amazing memories, friendships and experiences I'll always look back on and smile. I've learned lessons that I will take with me for the rest of my life. (bbc.co.uk, 06 Aug 2019) COMPETITION BREAK In October 2018 he announced that he was taking an indefinite break from competitive diving. "Turns out, winning the Olympics [gold at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro] and training six hours a day, six days a week can take its toll on your mental health. I'm taking some time away from diving to focus on music and other passion projects ahead of the next Olympic cycle." (Instagram profile, 28 Oct 2018) |
Further Personal Information | |
| Languages | English |
International Debut | |
| Year | 2010 |
| Competing for | Great Britain |
| Tournament | World Cup |
| Location | Changzhou, CHN |
General Interest | |
| Superstitions / Rituals / Beliefs | "I literally just think about one word - I'm a basic guy and I'll get confused otherwise! It can be different on each dive, a key word, things like 'arms' which [reminds] me about the position of my arms." (dailymail.co.uk, 11 Aug 2016) |
| Awards and honours | In May 2017 he was made a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire [MBE]. (itv.com, 19 May 2017) |
| Milestones | He and Jack Laugher became the first British divers to win gold at the Olympic Games when they claimed victory in the 3m synchronised springboard event at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. (bbc.co.uk, 10 Aug 2016; SportsDeskOnline, 23 Nov 2018) |