Before he became a major action star, Jason Statham's athletic prowess in this discipline nearly took him to the biggest sporting spectacle in the world.

Some actors are just born to play action stars, and Jason Statham is one of them. For most of the 2000s, the celebrity was responsible for the return of the tough-as-nails action hero in movies like The Transporter, The Italian Job, The Mechanic and many more.

Thanks to his extensive martial arts training, these roles became second nature to him. Interestingly, Statham also got the opportunity to become a serious athlete in Hollywood when he started diving professionally. While the star even represented Great Britain as part of the national team, his biggest disappointment was narrowly missing out on the golden chance to take part in the Olympics.

Jason Statham took to the action like a fish to water. Incidentally, the action star could literally have made water his home if he had made a career as a diver. The Transporter star took up the sport professionally, which saw him represent Great Britain in the 1990 Commonwealth Games in New Zealand (via Olympics.com).