Jack Laugher hasn’t scratched the surface of his partnership with Anthony Harding despite collecting a second Commonwealth gold inside 24 hours.

Having bagged 1m gold the Ripon star romped to his seventh Commonwealth title in the 3m synchro alongside Leeds-based Harding. 

Laugher and Harding have now won medals at their first two majors together having won silver at last month’s World Championships in Budapest.

But the Olympic champion believes there is plenty of headroom to improve on an overall score of 438.33, enough for victory by a yawning margin of 61.56 points.

“The feeling of winning is extraordinary, it’s the reason why I do this and it’s what keeps the fire burning,” he said.

“In this new partnership now, we’ve had two good performances but what’s exciting for me is that there’s still room for improvement.

“I would love to be able to do a diving list one day at some competition, where we actually truly maximise what we’re capable of.

“Everything clicks very well, it’s easy to train and hopefully one day I might be able to replicate some of the things I’ve done in the past - we already are.”


It was another three-peat for Laugher who has now held both 1m and 3m synchro titles since Glasgow 2014.

In the synchro he has returned to the list of dives that he used to win Great Britain’s first-ever Olympic diving gold medal with Chris Mears at Rio 2016.

It includes a devilishly difficult 2½ Somersaults 3 Twists dive, carrying a difficulty of 3.9, that is too complex even for the Chinese pair who beat the Brits to world gold.

Laugher said: “In terms of the difficulty of our lists, we were definitely the favourites going in.

“You have to remember it’s a home Games, there is a lot of pressure and expectation coming in, particularly on myself and I’m sure Anthony feels it.

“We solidified ourselves in the first couple of rounds. I made a few mistakes here and there but I’m really, really pleased with how we’ve done.”

Harding has risen to the challenge of matching Laugher who is known for the prodigious height he generates off the springboard.

There’s also the expectation that comes with diving alongside an Olympic champion and one of the most decorated English athletes in Commonwealth Games history.

Harding said: “It’s been an absolutely massive opportunity for me. I’m trying to enjoy it as much as I can.

“You feel like you have to do well, he’s had so many gold medals, so I just had to put a steady performance in.

“The height off the board has been a struggle and I’ve had to put on a little bit of weight.

“I’ve watched him for 12 years in training and I’ve copied everything he’s done, like copying homework from the smart kid. The synchro is pretty much perfect.”