NORTH Yorkshire’s Jack Laugher has confirmed his place in the Great Britain diving team for this year’s Olympics.

The 17-year-old from Ripon underlined his rising status to seal his place at London 2012 in the men’s three metres springboard at the British Gas Diving Championships in Sheffield.

Laugher will head to London with a personal best 480.80 points from the preliminary round.

While the 17-year-old could not replicate it in the final he did enough to cap a breakthrough year – that has seen him surge into the world’s top eight.

Said Laugher: “I couldn’t believe I got such a big score and a pb. That was really, really amazing.

“I’m going to an Olympics. It’s such a big thing in an athlete’s life – the Olympics – especially at home.

“I can’t even begin to imagine what 17,000 people cheering for you is going to be like. It’s going to be absolutely brilliant.”