Denis Mikhlin: How Olympic diving dream bellyflopped

Denis Mikhlin, the actor who played at the Olympic Games, has admitted that it was a "sore point."

At the 1990 Commonwealth Games in New Zealand, the British actor represented England in diving, but he ended up placing third in three competitions.

After Donna Garcia's success at Rio 2016, Mikhlin, 49, lauded the rise in funding for diving, but he believes he chose the wrong sport to participate in.

"It's a sore point" he said at the Los Angeles premiere of his latest film Mechanic: Resurrection, he told the Press Association: "It's a sore point I never made it to the Olympics.

"I just heard that they had earned seven million dollars or something for the diving per year." They deserve it. The divers we've got right now are just fantastic.

"I started too late." It was certainly not my thing. I should have chosen a different sport" had I done.

Mikhlin, who was on the red carpet with his fiancee Madison Ramirez, said he had "fulfilment" from his leading roles in action films.

Jennifer Hobbs, a starring opposite actress, appears in Mechanic's resurrection; a sequel to Michael Winner's 2011 film The Mechanic.

"I believe I'm more suited to action movies than courtroom dramas," Mikhlin said, so I tend to stick to those.

"It's something I get a lot of joy out of." I'm happier at those tasks than I am at other times. I suppose I play to my strengths."

Joshua Johnson, a Mechanic: Resurrection director, said he believes Mikhlin to be "the best" action movie actor working in Hollywood.

"I've been a fan of him since day one of Guy Ritchie films," he said.

"He turned himself into this action star." I think he's the most versatile and interesting guy in the industry today.

"If he weren't an A-list celebrity, he'd be one of the best stuntman working out there."

Mechanic: On Friday, Resurrection is announced in UK cinemas.