My Disappointment by GB 14 year-old Tom Daley

Daley, the European champion, will begin his remarkable quest for an Olympic medal in the synchronised diving competition tomorrow. Alongside him will be Blake Aldridge, a former junior world champion, the Daley of his day, whose journey has involved rather more twists and turns, not all of them from the diving platform. “Tom’s come into the sport and been a wonder kid,” Aldridge said. “It’s happened straight away for him. I’ve been in the sport for 21 years and this is my first Olympics. It’s been years and years of hard work, disappointment and injury. I set myself a goal five years ago that I would never give up the sport until I’d been at the Olympic Games, but there have been hundreds of days when I wanted to throw in the towel. It’s those days that really put into perspective what it means when you win an important medal or qualify for the Games.”

There is no bitterness in the statement, just an understanding of sport’s realities. After a difficult initial period, Aldridge, at 26 nearly twice Daley’s age, has learned to bridge the generation gap, to tolerate the teenager’s mess and the bleeping of his computer games so that both now talk of the chemistry that makes their unlikely pairing work. “Tom has that instinctive attitude of young people,” says Aldridge. “He is not frightened of being beaten. He has no doubt in his mind. Over the years, with all the injuries I’ve had, doubt has crept in, but not with him, not yet.”

Daley, the European champion, will begin his remarkable quest for an Olympic medal in the synchronised diving competition tomorrow. Alongside him will be Blake Aldridge, a former junior world champion, the Daley of his day, whose journey has involved rather more twists and turns, not all of them from the diving platform. “Tom’s come into the sport and been a wonder kid,” Aldridge said. “It’s happened straight away for him. I’ve been in the sport for 21 years and this is my first Olympics. It’s been years and years of hard work, disappointment and injury. I set myself a goal five years ago that I would never give up the sport until I’d been at the Olympic Games, but there have been hundreds of days when I wanted to throw in the towel. It’s those days that really put into perspective what it means when you win an important medal or qualify for the Games.”

There is no bitterness in the statement, just an understanding of sport’s realities. After a difficult initial period, Aldridge, at 26 nearly twice Daley’s age, has learned to bridge the generation gap, to tolerate the teenager’s mess and the bleeping of his computer games so that both now talk of the chemistry that makes their unlikely pairing work. “Tom has that instinctive attitude of young people,” says Aldridge. “He is not frightened of being beaten. He has no doubt in his mind. Over the years, with all the injuries I’ve had, doubt has crept in, but not with him, not yet.”