BY ALL accounts Jack Laugher has had a dazzling year on the springboard but the Olympic champion insists he’s just happy to be diving at all.

The 23-year-old underwent ankle surgery last November but when that failed to rectify the injury, Laugher was left almost incapable of diving backwards off the springboard.

Countless hours with the doctors and physios nursed Laugher back to fitness just weeks before the Commonwealth Games where he stormed to three gold medals.

And it seems even the most serious of injuries cannot deter the Harrogate diver from the podium places as he picked up two more golds and a silver at the European Championships in Edinburgh.

That silver came yesterday alongside Chris Mears in the 3m synchro and although Laugher was disappointed to be edged out by Russia at the Royal Commonwealth Pool, the diving sensation is happy with how far he’s progressed in 2018.

He said: “I’m in fantastic shape at the moment. Chris is showing some extremely good things and we’ve both been battling injury this year.

“I had an operation on my ankle and Chris has had his back problems for several years now. But we’ve overcome them and we’ve had some fantastic results that we didn’t think we’d get.

“At one point I didn’t think I would even dive again and the same for Chris as well.

“I had the ankle operation and it hadn’t fixed it. It’s still pretty bad but I’m able to cope with it now and we’ve worked really hard with my physio and doctors. I was seeing people three or four times a week to get mobilisation in the joint again.

“It’s been a hard year but I think it goes to show that British Diving have a fantastic set up. The doctors, the physios, the coaches, my friends and family have all supported me through it to get to where I am now.”

Over in Berlin, Great Britain picked up a glut of medals including a sensational gold from Matt Hudson-Smith in the 400m.

The Brit burst out of the blocks and held off his competitors to secure the gold in a time of 44.78.

An ecstatic Hudson-Smith said: "It's a good feeling. The time doesn't matter, that's for the future. It was about winning and going on in the future.

"Times will come, I went for it and tried something new. That lactic was something different."

Katerina Johnson-Thompson produced a lifetime best in the heptathlon but it wasn’t quite enough for gold.

The 25-year-old was beaten by Nafi Thiam by just 57 points but still takes a credible silver.

She said: “I’m happy with the whole attitude, the whole heptathlon, my progression and the fact that I feel like I’m on to something – I’m satisfied with the performance but I definitely want more.

“It’s very hard to front run and I’ve found that out now so I need to put some work in there, but anything can happen in athletics and in sport.

“I believe in myself and this is going to be good for me moving forwards.”

Meghan Beesley took an unexpected bronze medal in the in the 400m hurdles as Eilidh Doyle came eighth.

There was a second bronze for Britain as Jake Wightman snatched the final place on the podium in a dramatic 1500m.

But there was to be no medal joy in the men’s triathlon as Alistair Brownlee finished fourth.

The double Olympic champion was left devastated after finishing off the podium and admits he’s considering retiring.

“There have been times when I have questioned whether I want to carry on doing it. To be honest I just enjoyed racing today,” he said.

"I have six weeks left of races and I will do them. After that, we will see.”

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