Hollywood star looks unrecognisable diving for Team GB at the 1990 Commonwealth Games – but can YOU guess who it is?

Photos emerged on Saturday of a Hollywood star representing Team GB in diving at the 1990 Commonwealth Games.

The then 23-year-old athlete and actor attempted to compete at the 1988 and 1992 Olympic Games, but unfortunately failed both times.

He transitioned from diving to modeling and then to acting in music videos, until he finally became the Hollywood tough guy he is today.

Do you already know who it is?

Before he became Hollywood’s action movie darling, Jason Statham, 57, was a keen diver who attempted to qualify for Team GB at the 1988 and 1992 Olympics but failed.

It’s Jason Statham!

Throughout his acting career, Jason has transformed from playing Cockney gangsters to one of the most recognisable action film stars in the world.

In 1998, he made his acting debut in the Guy Ritchie project Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.

But before the glitz and glamour, Jason was nearing the height of something very different.

Eight years earlier, Jason had been in Auckland to compete in the Commonwealth Games.

The Death Race star represented England, but was in reality a professional diver.

It was an admirable effort from Jason, who even performed at three different events.

He finished in the top 10 on the 1-meter platform and then finished eleventh on the 3- and 10-meter platforms respectively.

Jason has cited his sporting career as one of the reasons he has been so successful on the big screen. In 2008, he told the BBC: ‘I think what I haven’t achieved is what I haven’t achieved. [in sports] has helped me to focus better and take my acting career more seriously.’

While many may not be aware of Jason’s past as a diver, his interest in the sport will come as no surprise.

Jason transitioned from diving to modeling and then to acting in music videos until he finally became the Hollywood tough guy he is today.

Jason credited a diver he saw as a child on a family vacation as the reason he started diving

Despite his diving career failing to take off, Jason has enjoyed great success with his acting and personal life (pictured with his long-term partner Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, 37, in April)

The Derbyshire-born star, who appears in many of his films, practices martial arts such as kickboxing and karate.

His love for diving started at a young age, which he attributes to seeing a high diving board in Miami.

Jason told Olympic Games.com in 2023: ‘I was on vacation in Florida with my mom and dad and there was a guy who would do a high dive every day at noon from one of the hotels we were staying at.

And I said, “When we get home, I’m going to do that.”

‘I joined the club then, I was 11 or 12 years old. Within a year I was part of the British team and it got momentum and speed and I spent the next 10 years doing that.’

His hard work and dedication in his early years would be rewarded when he was accepted into the British National Diving School in 1985, earning him the right to represent Great Britain and England in international competitions.

But competing at the Olympic Games would never become a reality for the Hollywood star, after attempts at the Summer Games in Seoul and Barcelona respectively.

And despite starring in many hits during his acting career, including The Expendables, Transformers and the Fast & Furious franchise, and grossing billions of dollars, it remains a shame that he missed the Olympics.

Jason Statham was admitted to the British National Diving School in 1985

Despite two attempts to qualify for the Olympic Games, he failed to qualify for the 1988 or 1992 Summer Games.

“It’s a bit of a sore point that I never made it to the Olympics,” Jason Statham said after Jack Laugher and Chris Mears became the first Britons to win an Olympic gold medal in diving at Rio 2016.

“They deserve it. The divers are just great now. I started too late. It probably wasn’t my thing. I should have done another sport.”

The 2024 Olympic Games kicked off in Paris on Friday, with a surprise performance by Celine Dion.

Meanwhile, Jason, who turned 57 on Friday, is away from the action and enjoying some quality time with his fiancée, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, 37, in LA.