Reid it and sweep
Scot saves best for last as brilliant final leap grabs gold
Grace Reid bagged a dramatic diving gold in Edinburgh last night after risking it all on a stunning last-gasp effort to sink her rivals.
The hometown hero, 22, was lagging in third place in the three metres springboard final with one effort left and GB team-mate Alicia Blagg primed for victory. But Reid backed herself to make a splash and it paid off as she vaulted into top spot with a total of 329.40 points – leaving German favourite Tina Punzel with bronze. Reid said: “I don’t know what I even scored in the final dive. “It’s unreal. Happy doesn’t cover it. It has been hard work this season. “I said: ‘Give it everything’. No medals are won playing safe so I gave everything I had and it came off. In diving terms if you play safe you maybe hold back a bit and are a little tentative. “I was just thinking about my technical points and giving all my energy to the board.” Reid, who also landed Commonwealth Games gold in April, will get another podium crack in the 3m synchro today with Kat Torrance.
But it’s her highest-profile partner who’s helped her deal with the pressure of being one of the best in the world.
Tom Daley linked up with the Scot to land the Euro title in the mixed synchro event in London two years ago – before she decided to follow diving’s poster boy to the English capital to work with his coach Jane Figueiredo at the Olympic pool. And even though new dad Daly is currently on paternity leave Grace revealed it was his advice that saw her safely through. She said: “He’s told me not to be afraid to lead from the front. “It’s a different position to be in. I’ve not been there before. “Usually I’ve been chasing and snapping at the other girls’ heels. “Here I qualified in second. I’ve not been there before. But if Tom was here he’d have told me: ‘This is good. You’re the one being chased so embrace it.’ And I really did that.” It was Euro silver for World Championship medallists Matty Lee and Lois Toulson in the 10m mixed synchro, the GB pair finishing behind Russia’s Nikita Shleikher and Yulia Timoshinina. And Toulson, 18, said: “The championships have been great for me. I have two medals so I’m pleased with that but obviously I would’ve loved to get gold with Matty.”