Laugher has spoken openly about the impact the 2019 World Championships – where he went from first to third after a poor final dive – had on his mental health.
He even considered quitting the sport before the delayed Tokyo Games in 2021.
A medal there reignited his love for diving and his new partnership with Harding, who was competing at his first Olympics, has brought instant rewards.
“We’ve had a rough year. We did wonderfully through the World Cup series, but the World Championships in Doha was pretty terrible,” Laugher said.
“It gave us a reality check. We’ve worked extremely hard.”
The Britons had maybe looked a touch nervous in the warm-ups, but the practice session seemed to allow them to shake off any extra tension.
They kept themselves in medal contention throughout and were second at the halfway stage, jostling with China and Mexico in the top three.
The duo performed their most difficult dive, rated 3.9, in the penultimate round, which ensured they kept pressure on their rivals.
After a strong, solid showing with their final dive – a 3.8 difficulty – the pair just had to wait to see which colour the medal would be.
“Before being with Jack, I was a boy. I feel like a man today,” Harding said. “No matter what the outcome was, I felt like I’ve become a man, and that’s thanks to Jack and the coaches.”
It is the best start to a diving competition at a Games for Britain, who have won a medal in all four events so far.
Tom Daley and Noah Williams took silver in the men’s synchro 10m platform, with bronzes for Yasmin Harper and Scarlett Mew Jensen in the women’s synchro 3m springboard and Lois Toulson and Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix in the women’s synchro 10m platform.
Laugher will compete in the individual 3m springboard later in the week, with heats held from 6 August.
