Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix adds another gold to Commonwealth Games medal haul
The 17-year-old won the mixed synchronised 10m platform with Noah Williams
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Your support makes all the difference.Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix admits she may no longer be able to fly under the radar after her second diving gold made Commonwealth Games history.
She joined forces with Noah Williams to claim the mixed synchro platform diving title moving Team England past their previous best performance at the Games - 174 medals from eight years ago in Glasgow.
It’s been a week to remember for the 17-year-old, who was joined on the podium by team-mates and silver medallists Lois Toulson and Kyle Kothari.
She made her Olympic debut last year in Tokyo but was largely able to compete without the attention, despite her famous father, First Dates’ maître d’hôtel Fred.
However, she will no longer be afforded that luxury after returning from Birmingham with two golds and a silver which established her as the new star of the team.
“This has definitely exceeded what I hoped,” she said. “I came here with no expectations, I just wanted to have fun. I made a conscious decision to train even harder than the last couple of months and it’s paid off.
“I don’t want to put any pressure on myself, that’s what makes you crumble but I’m very excited for the next two years.
“I’m learning as I’m growing as an athlete about the pressure. If I keep the internal pressure under control and it doesn’t overwhelm me, that’s good. I’m still learning and I’m going to make mistakes.
“This week has given me a lot of confidence but success in competition comes from training hard and working hard.”
In the absence of Tom Daley, Williams also won double gold but admitted his seventh place in the men’s individual platform competition would still rankle.
“You don’t come into a Games expecting medals,” he said. “At the last Games I got a silver, so two golds are very good but I’m still disappointed with my individual performance.
“Andrea is just 17 and she’s showing the world how good she is. We’ve got an amazing depth in British diving.”
Elsewhere, Grace Reid and James Heatly helped secure Scottish sporting history with a podium topping performance.
Their gold medal in the mixed synchronised 3m springboard was the 13th scored by Scotland at the Sandwell Aquatic Centre, beating their previous Commonwealth Games record in the pool from 16 years ago in Melbourne.
Reid and Heatly also brought up Scotland’s half century of podiums and secured their 13th and final gold but admitted they felt the pressure.
The partnership won bronze in the event at recent World Championships in Budapest and knew they’d been pegged as the ones to beat in the ten-team final.
Diving first, they set the standard in a closely fought competition with little margin for error, finishing just under two points ahead of Australia’s Shixin Li and Madison Keeney.
For Reid, 26, the primary emotion was relief, after she finished fourth in the defence of her 1m springboard title from the Gold Coast last week.
“We had some disappointments earlier this week so to end on that note, I’m just so happy, it’s going to take a while to sink in,” she said.
“I certainly don’t mind sharing this one with James. Having him as an anchor point when I was feeling quite jittery helped me so much.
“I knew there was expectation on me, you can’t escape that and have to embrace it really. We really felt the pressure but winning sometimes feels better when you’ve come through a few setbacks.
“It’s hard in front of an English crowd sometimes, especially as we were following their divers, but the support was incredible. We rivalled them in noise and that really makes a difference. It’s a moment in my career that I’m going to look back on very fondly.”
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