YESTERDAY Chris Mears won Great Britain’s first Olympic diving gold medal at Rio 2016 with his diving partner Jack Laugher – but who exactly is he?
On Wednesday the pair took part in the men’s synchronised 3m springboard final and dashed China’s hopes of a clean sweep in the diving by scoring a winning total of 454.32.
While Jack is already fairly famous having won medals at 2016 European Championships in London, the 2015 Diving World Series and two at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, Chris is a little less known.
Chris, from Reading, currently lives in Leeds, with his diving partner Jack, and has been an advocate of athletes being open about homosexuality in sports for a number of years, including posing for the Gay Times Magazine.
And in the diving world, the 23-year-old also has an impressive collection, gaining medals from the European Championships and Commonwealth Games.
Although, the road to Olympic success wasn't always clear for Chris, as the athlete was only given a 5 per cent change of survival after he ruptured his spleen diving in Australia in 2009.
Chris had to undergo life-saving surgery and remained in Australia until he was fit to fly but he was found having a seizure on the floor of his hotel room.
His seizure lasted a remarkable seven hours which led to him being put in a three-day coma.
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Tragically Chris was told he would never dive again, so to help pass the time during his recovery period, Chris took up music production as a hobby.
Over the coming years, Chris made a slow comeback into diving and by 2010 his was competing in the Commonwealth Games in India.
In his spare time Chris continued working on electronic dance music and house music in his bedroom studio and in 2012 he was signed with Insanity Artists booking agency.
A year later, Chris had his first large scale performance at Woodstoke Festival where he supported Labrinth and Pendulum and he has since been signed by Universal.
Speaking of his love of music, Chris told The Telegraph: "It is not just a hobby, it is what I want to do in my career when I finish diving.
“When I am diving I am doing that but it can get all too much doing one thing so it is important to have an outlet."
Chris's DJ scene has also led to him living a party-lifestyle and he has more recently been photographed with a number of beautiful ladies, including Nicole Scherzinger.
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