Jack Laugher's 'passion reignited' as he heads to fourth Olympics with three other Yorkshire divers

Laugher, a gold medallist in Rio in 2016, has been named by Aquatics GB in their first tranche of eight synchro divers for the Paris Olympics, four of which are either from or train in Yorkshire.

Harrogate’s Laugher will once again bid for glory in the 3m synchro, this time alongside his City of Leeds clubmate Anthony Harding, who is from Manchester but now based in the city where he trains.

They are joined by another Leeds diver, Huddersfield-born Lois Toulson, in the 10m synchro alongside Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix - the pair having won silver and bronze at the last two world championships - and City of Sheffield’s Yasmin Harper, who partners Scarlett Mew Jensen in the 3m synchro.

For Toulson it is a third Olympics, for Harding and Harper a first. But for Laugher, 29, it is a fourth, which is a testament to his longevity and dedication.

“It's not what I thought was going to happen when I was a kid, but I'm so glad I'm here,” said Laugher, who also has silver and bronze Olympic medals in the 3m individual from Rio and Tokyo.

"It's a massive testament to myself but also the people I have around me, the teams, the people who work hard to keep me in shape, my coaches and everyone to get me in the best position I can be in to go to another Olympic Games - and hopefully hit hard.

“It’s exciting taking Anthony into his first as well. It’s ignited that spark in me that I needed as I’m getting older and as athletes age, it’s important to keep that fire burning and taking somebody into that is keeping that going.”

Laugher also brushed off suspicions around the aquatic sport’s most dominant nation, with events in the pool set to be closely monitored following recent allegations that 23 Chinese swimmers were allowed to compete at the Tokyo Games despite testing positive for a banned substance. Swimming and diving are both governed by World Aquatics.

The revelations have caused widespread criticism of the World Anti-Doping Agency, which accepted an explanation from Chinese authorities blaming accidental contamination but has since invited an independent prosecutor to carry out a “thorough review”. There is no indication that any of the country’s divers are implicated in the scandal, but China is the dominant power in the sport, topping every medals’ table since the 1988 Games.

Laugher said: “It’s no different from normal, right? There’s always been potential scandals in different sports and this is just another one of those.

“It’s unfortunate it’s in aquatics, but to my understanding it’s been handled to the best of World Aquatics and WADA’s ability. We just have to trust that what we’re doing is what everyone is doing and what we’re doing is trying to be as faithful to sport as we can.”

Tom Daley is the headline attraction of the GB squad, having come out of retirement last year he is now headed to his fifth Olympics and will partner Noah Williams in the 10m synchro.

Leeds’ Matty Lee, who he won gold with in Tokyo, misses out through injury.

Athletes for the individual events will be chosen after the British Championships in June.

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