European Diving Championships: Lois Toulson & Eden Cheng win 10m silver
- Published
'Shock upgrade for the Brits!' GB pair win silver after Ukrainians' mistake
British duo Lois Toulson and Eden Cheng produced an impressive comeback to secure synchronised 10m silver at the European Championships in Budapest.
The pair, who won the event in 2018, were in sixth after the third round, with Cheng having slipped during the take-off phase.
Two strong dives followed to give them a total of 290.58, with Russia (307.44) taking gold and Ukraine (286.74) third.
"I'm really proud of how we recovered today," Toulson, 21, told ±«Óãtv Sport.
It has been a busy week for the pair, who secured Great Britain a place in the event at the Tokyo Olympics by claiming World Cup silver in Japan last week.
"After over a year without a competition it's been tough and I was definitely a bit shaky in my individual event (where she was fifth), but we have to be pleased with two medals," said the Leeds-based diver.
The Britons now believe they have the ability to become Team GB's first female Olympic diving medallists since Elizabeth Ferris took bronze at Rome 1960, come the Tokyo Games.
"We do have the potential for the Olympic medal if we're selected," said 18-year-old Cheng. "We delivered two personal bests in Tokyo when the pressure was on to get the Olympic sport and we dealt with the missed dive, so we're really pleased."
Olympic champion Jack Laugher's difficult 24 hours continued with a second successive sixth-placed finish, this time in the individual 3m springboard final.
He won 1m silver on Wednesday, but he and synchronised partner Dan Goodfellow struggled in their final on Thursday and Laugher only secured a place in the individual 3m final with his last routine after dropping a dive during the morning preliminaries.
Team-mate James Heatly, who won World Cup silver at the Olympic test event in Japan last week, finished fourth.
"I'm so frustrated having coming so close to a medal as it's an annoying place to finish, but I can't be too hard on myself because the World Cup was great and I'm tired after travelling and competing," the Scottish diver told ±«Óãtv Sport.
Tom Daley will begin his European Championships campaign with the synchronised 10m event on Saturday - alongside Matty Lee - a week after they claimed World Cup gold at the Olympic test event in Japan.