Matthew Lee (born 5 March 1998) is a British diver and

Olympic gold medallist Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

. Adept in both individual and synchronised diving, and across both 3-metre springboard and platform, Lee won the gold medal in 10-metre platform at the

2015 European Games The 2015 European Games, also known as Baku 2015 or Baku 2015 European Games ( az, Bakı 2015 Avropa Oyunları), were the inaugural edition of the European Games, an international multi-sport event for athletes representing the National Olymp ...

, the mixed 10-metre synchronised platform at the 2017 European Diving Championships and has twice been European junior champion on the 3-metre springboard. At world level, Lee won the silver medal in the mixed 10-metre synchronised platform event at the 2017 World Championships, and at the 2019 World Championships, Lee and

Tom Daley Tom or TOM may refer to: * Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name) Characters * Tom Anderson, a character in ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' * Tom Beck, a character ...

won bronze in the 10 m synchro event, as well as gold in July 2021 at the

2020 Tokyo Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the List of Olympic Games h ...

Early life

Matty Lee was born to Helen and Tim Lee on 5 March 1998 in

Leeds Leeds () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the thi ...

. He learned to swim, then took up diving in 2005 at the age of seven having watched his older brother Tom trained as a diver. He was also involved in

gymnastics Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, s ...

and

aikido Aikido ( , , , ) is a modern Japanese martial art that is split into many different styles, including Iwama Ryu, Iwama Shin Shin Aiki Shuren Kai, Shodokan Aikido, Yoshinkan, Renshinkai, Aikikai and Ki Aikido. Aikido is now practiced in a ...

, but chose to concentrate on diving in 2007. He trained with the City of Leeds Diving Club at the John Charles Centre for Sport. He studied at Carr Manor Community School from 2009 to 2014, and

Notre Dame Catholic Sixth Form College Notre Dame is a Sixth Form College in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The college is situated on Saint Mark's Avenue, near to the engineering departments of the University of Leeds in Woodhouse, Leeds. It is near the (formerly C of E) St Mark's ...

from 2014 to 2016.

Career

In 2012, Lee competed at his first European Junior Championships. He won the 3 m Springboard gold and then went to compete at the World Junior Championships later in the season, securing a top result of seventh in the Group B Platform. In 2013, Lee won medals in all three Group B individual events at his second European Junior Championships, defending his 3 m title and taking silver in 10 m Platform, bronze in 1m Springboard. In 2014, he debuted as a senior in the World Cup series. He was selected to compete at the

2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games ( gd, Geamannan a' Cho-fhlaitheis 2014), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014, ( sco, Glesca 2014 or Glesga 2014; gd, Glaschu 2014), was an international multi-sport ev ...

, but withdrew from the diving squad due to injury. In 2015, Lee competed at the inaugural

held in Baku. He won gold in 10 m platform beating Russia's Nikita Shleikher.

2017

At the 2017 European Diving Championships in Kyiv, Lee won a bronze in the Men's 10-metre platform, and a gold in the mixed 10 m platform synchro with diving partner

Lois Toulson Lois Mae Toulson (born 26 September 1999) is a British diver. A specialist in the 10 metre platform, she won the gold medal at the inaugural European Games in 2015, and the senior European title in 2017. She competed in the women's synchroni ...

. The pair then won a silver at the

2017 World Aquatics Championships The 17th FINA World Championships ( hu, 2017-es úszó-világbajnokság) were held in Budapest, Hungary from 14 to 30 July 2017.

in the 10 m mixed synchro.

2018–2019

At the 2018 British Diving Championships, Lee and his partner

Kyle Kothari Kyle Kothari (born 26 January 1998) is an English diver representing Great Britain and England in competition. At the 2022 Commonwealth Games, he won a silver medal in the 10 metre mixed synchronised platform, and placed fourth in the 10 metr ...

(from London) won the 10 m synchro event with a final score of 406.17, a sizeable margin over the second place score of 388.50. He came second in the men's 10 m platform with a score of 485.60. Lee and his partner

won a bronze at the 2018 FINA Diving World Series held in Beijing in the mixed platform synchro. At the

2018 European Championships The 2018 European Championships were the first edition of the European Championships. It was a multi-sport event which took place in Berlin, Germany, and Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom (with Edinburgh hosting the diving events and Glene ...

held in Glasgow/Edinburgh, Lee and Toulson won a silver in the mixed 10-metre platform synchro. Starting October 2018, Lee partnered with

in the men's synchronised 10-metre platform. At the

2019 World Aquatics Championships The 2019 World Aquatics Championships were the 18th FINA World Aquatics Championships, held in Gwangju, South Korea from 12 to 28 July 2019. The city had previously hosted the 2015 Summer Universiade aquatics events in the same venues.

held in

Gwangju Gwangju () is South Korea's sixth-largest metropolis. It is a designated metropolitan city under the direct control of the central government's Home Minister. The city was also the capital of South Jeolla Province until the provincial offic ...

, South Korea, Lee and Daley finished in the bronze position in the 10 m synchro.

2021–2022

At the 2021 FINA Diving World Cup held in Japan, Lee and Daley won gold in synchronised 10 m platform. The pair also won gold in synchronised 10 m platform at the

European Championships The European Championships is a multi-sport tournament which brings together the existing European Championships of some of the continent's leading sports every four years. The inaugural edition in 2018 was staged by the host cities of Berlin, ...

held in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

. At the

, Lee won Gold alongside Daley in the Men's synchronised 10 m platform event, edging out China's Cao Yuan and

Chen Aisen Chen Aisen (, born 22 October 1995) is a Chinese diver. He is a double gold medal winner at the 2016 Summer Olympics. He won gold in the men's synchronised 10m platform competition with diving partner Lin Yue, as well as gold in the men's indi ...

with a total score of 471.81. Lee was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(MBE) in the

2022 New Year Honours The 2022 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 15 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebration ...

for services to diving. At the

2022 World Aquatics Championships The 2022 World Aquatics Championships, the 19th edition of the FINA World Aquatics Championships, were held in Budapest, Hungary, from 17 June to 3 July 2022. In March 2022, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, FINA banned both the Russian an ...

held in Budapest, Lee partnered with Noah Williams for the first time in an international competition and they won silver in the synchro 10 m platform event. Lee and Williams again partnered at the

2022 Commonwealth Games The 2022 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Birmingham 2022, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations that took place in Birmingham, England bet ...

in the synchro 10m platform, where the pair won gold. In individual events, Lee won a bronze in 10 m platform.

Television

In November 2021, Lee was announced as a contestant on the twenty-first series of '' I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!''. He finished in fifth place. Lee appeared on the Chase on 28 August 2022 (Series 13, Episode 1) with Sunetra Sarker,

Basil Brush Basil Brush is a fictional red fox, best known for his appearances on daytime British children's television. He is primarily portrayed by a glove puppet, but has also been depicted in animated cartoon shorts and comic strips. The character has ...

, and

David Arnold David Arnold (born 23 January 1962) is a British film composer whose credits include scoring five James Bond films, as well as '' Stargate'' (1994), ''Independence Day'' (1996), ''Godzilla'' (1998) and the television series '' Little Britain'' ...

. All four celebrities completed in the Final Chase against

Darragh Ennis Darragh Ennis is an Irish entomologist, neuroscientist, quizzer, and television personality. He is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Oxford and is known as one of the "chasers" on the ITV game show '' The Chase''. Early life an ...

for £19,000. The team beat Ennis with each celebrity taking £4,750 home for their charities.

References

External links

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Matthew Lee
at The-Sports.org {{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Matty 1998 births Living people British male divers Olympic divers of Great Britain Olympic gold medallists for Great Britain Olympic medalists in diving Divers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games medallists in diving Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for England Divers at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Divers at the 2022 Commonwealth Games European Games gold medalists for Great Britain European Games medalists in diving Divers at the 2015 European Games World Aquatics Championships medalists in diving I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! (British TV series) participants Sportspeople from Leeds Members of the Order of the British Empire