Belgrade 2024: Great Britain’s Robbie Lee crowned men’s 10m platform champion after spectacular display
Credit to: European Aquatics
Robbie Lee came up with a truly outstanding performance in the men’s 10m platform final to finish on top of the podium, and thanks to Ben Cutmore’s remarkable fightback, Great Britain also took the bronze, while Spain’s Carlos Camacho added silver to his two golds from earlier in the competition.
Great Britain’s Robbie Lee offered arguably the most spirited and spectacular performance among all the divers as he went one better than last year when he finished runner-up at the European Games.
“I’m European champion and I’m feeling amazing,” said Lee after winning the gold in stunning fashion.
Lee kicked off the 10m final with a good dive – followed by a sensational one (92.50), then some other outstanding jumps, including a 91.80 to finish.
“I think my most important dive was my four and half tuck in round two,” Lee added.
“It’s a dive I usually put at the end of my list, but it hasn’t been going too great recently and I really messed it up at the Olympic trials.
“I wasn’t going to use it, but I told my coach I wanted to and I’m glad I did as it paid off.”
Lee was a worthy winner as he was the only diver to perform 90+ point dives, not once but twice, and he also had an 88-pointer.
He won by a mile, with 56.75 the gap, was pure class and his spectacular display would be worthy of any medal at any Olympics.
Credit to: European Aquatics
“This gold medal has been down to a lot of commitment and hard work over a lot of years,” said Lee.
“I also recently moved to London, and I’m glad I did, as I think I’ve gained a lot of strength, probably wisdom as well, and I think my diving has got a lot better.”
The battle for the minor spoils was tighter, as here we saw some erroneous attempts but also great jumps which compensated for them.
Spain’s Carlos Camacho couldn’t make his fourth good enough and dropped to fifth place, but he bounced back with two tremendous attempts in the last two rounds, both earning him 81 points apiece, which propelled him back to the runner-up position.
Great Britain’s Ben Cutmore, bronze medallist in the 10m platform synchro event and winner in the mixed 3m synchro, started the final well and with great consistency, scoring 76 points in each round.
In the fourth, however, he was well below par and needed to climb back from 6th.
The Brit proved he was more than up to the task, just like Camacho, as he immediately responded with a great dive, which lifted him to third.
Then in the last round, he produced another stunning dive, which recorded 84 points, the next best to Lee’s big 90+ ones.
“I didn’t drop my head after that fourth dive, and I made sure I stayed determined, as I wanted to fight back for a medal,” said Cutmore.
“It’s taken a lot of hard work to get here, and a lot of dedication, especially after my injury at the start of the year, so I refused to go home without a medal in this event.”
Credit to: European Aquatics
This powerful finish rocketed Great Britain to the top of the diving medal table, ahead of Spain in second and France in third, while Ukraine took the Total Team Trophy title.
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