A man of many talents!
Footage of Hollywood actor Jason Statham diving for Team GB at the 1990 Commonwealth Games has resurfaced online, and people on social media can’t get over it.
Eight years before making his debut on the silver screen with the 1998 film Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Jason Statham was a professional diver who represented England at the 1990 Commonwealth Games in Auckland, New Zealand.
Statham discovered his love for diving as a young teen when he saw a man perform a high dive while on holiday with his family in Miami, Florida.
He joined a local swimming club in his hometown of Great Yarmouth, Norfolk and was inducted into the British National Diving School in 1985.
According to the Olympics website, Statham participated in the Olympic trials for the 1988 Summer Games in Seoul and the Barcelona Olympics in 1992 but could not make the cut for the main event.
In the 1990 Commonwealth Games however, he finished eighth in the 1-metre springboard, and 11th in 3-metre springboard and 10-metre platform.
Users on X were gobsmacked at the discovery of Statham’s prior athletic career.
One user wrote: “I never knew Jason was a professional diver!”
Another joked: “Score of 10 And the diving was not bad either,” while one other person added: “I feel like Jason Statham has lives so many lifetimes.”
Soon after the 1990 event had finished, Statham began a successful modelling career, becoming the face for top fashion brands like French Connection and Levi’s, among others.
He quickly turned his attention towards acting and by the turn of the millennium, had become a household name in the world of film thanks to stand-out performances in Guy Ritchie’s Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrells (1998) and Snatch (2000).
During a press interview at the premiere for Mechanic:Ressurection in 2016, Statham was asked for his thoughts on Team GB’s Jack Laugher and Chris Mears gold-winning performance at the Tokyo Olympics.
“They deserve it. The divers now are just terrific,” he said. “It’s a bit of a sore point that I never got to the Olympics.
“I started too late,” he added. “It probably wasn’t my thing. I should have done a different sport.”
It certainly seems as though Statham chose the right path.
The 57-year-old has starred in some of the biggest blockbusters of the last two decades including The Italian Job, The Expendables and the Fast & Furious franchise.
No doubt he would be happy for Team GB’s divers at this year’s Olympic Games, who have amassed a staggering four medals across all events so far.
