NORTH Yorkshire diver Jack Laugher has created history by becoming Great Britain's first Olympic diving gold medal winner.

The former Ripon Grammar School pupil broke into tears and embraced his fellow Yorkshire diver partner Chris Mears after rivals China failed to score highly enough to overtake the Team GB total of 454.32 in the final round.

The pair, who are housemates and best friends, won the 3m synchronised springboard diving contest on a day being dubbed Wonderful Wednesday, after Team GB scooped six medals on day five.

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After standing on the podium to receive his medal, Laugher said the result was a reflection of how much work he had put into improving since the London Olympics.

He added: "We did a fantastic job today, two points off our personal best. We are so lucky and happy the way it has gone. It is absolutely ridiculous.

"It is my absolute dream, it's crazy.

"We have got a couple of empty picture frames on the wall that we will fill up with pictures of today.

"We're so overwhelmed with what we've done. The dream has happened and it's paid off.

He said they had enjoyed the typically British cold and rainy conditions in the open-air pool during the contest.

Laugher added: "We took on the English weather, with the wind and the rain. We embraced it and we've come out with the medal, so we're really happy."

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He added deciding to perform a challenging dive - a forward 2 1/2 somersault and 3 twists - that he has titled “the washing machine” was a gamble worth taking

The dive is considered the most difficult in the world and had never been performed by a synchronised pair.

Laugher said: “We were not the inventors. It's been done for a few years by 2008 Olympic champion He Chong and the Russians, but we were the first in synchro.”

With the gold-winning form, Laugher will be considered to be a force to be reckoned with when he takes on the springboard competition in a few days time.

Asked what he would think if he emerged with a second gold, Laugher said: "That's ridiculous. Just to come away with one doesn't seem real. I haven't got my head around it yet."

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Diving experts said the pair produced a consistently brilliant display and had been performing well all year.

The US pair had to settle for silver and China bronze.

The 21-year-old from Ripon, who started diving aged seven, had been determined to improve on his 2012 performance, when a combination of nerves and inexperience resulted in him crashing out at the preliminary stage in London’s Aquatics Centre.

His proud dad joked that his son's Olympic gold medal triumph was because he was not there in Rio to put him off.

David Laugher, 52, stayed at home in Ripon, and watched the final with their lurcher dog Alfie, saying he has been a bad luck omen in the past.

He sent a message to his son, which read: "Golden monkey! Unbelievable result. All because I stayed at home. Love you lots."

Mr Laugher said: "I call him monkey because of how athletic he is. With him being an Olympic champion - it is all taking a bit of getting used to, the idea, to be honest. I am beyond proud."

His wife Jackie, 52, and daughter Katie, 20, travelled to Rio with the Mears family to be poolside for the competition.

He said: "It is a fantastic feeling. It has been a long time coming and the lads deserve everything they get. They have worked so hard over the last few years and it has paid off."

Mr Laugher, who describes himself as "a bit of a blubberer" said he had "a bit of a cry" in the tense build-up to the Olympic victory.

"It got the fifth dive and I was in 'hands over the eyes and I cannot bear to watch this' mode. Then I thought 'this is a bit stupid, I need to watch it'. Like many others, I feel a bit sick with nerves.

"Every competition of his I have been to, he does not seem to do so well so I stayed away and he gets gold."

Laugher broke his arm on a diving board when he was about 13 and feared it was the end of his budding career. He now has a permanent plate and stitches in his right arm.

Laugher and Mears had led the six-dive competition after round three, and were praised for showing composure under intense pressure.

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Fellow Olympic diver Tom Daley and Prime Minister Theresa May were among a host of people who congratulated the pair on Twitter.

Daley said their performance had been "absolutely brilliant".

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TV presenter Stephen Mulhern added: "The best divers we have in Britain @JackLaugher and @ChrisMears93 so so proud! You are the best and clearly deserve gold!"

Former footballer Gary Lineker tweeted: "Gold for Laugher and Mears. Absolutely bloody brilliant! Well played."

Quiz show host Richard Osman said: "I look forward to people telling me I'm pronouncing Jack Laugher's name wrong in about six months time."

Steve Parry, an Olympic bronze medal-winning swimmer, said: "The British guys were all over it. They were so consistent through every single round, they did not let up and it was that consistency that won it for them in the end.

"They were so emotional at the end, crying in the arms of their coaches, and rightly so."