by Daley, Tom
There was still a lot of media attention on me prior to us heading out to Beijing, and Steve Foley went on BBC Radio 5 Live to say that if it wasn’t all properly managed for me, there was a definite danger of me burning out. I could understand why he was saying it but I didn’t feel like there was any problem. I had such a good team looking after me, great support from my family, a new agent, the British federation’s media officer, who was very supportive, and people like Steve around me all the time. I think if any of them thought it was all getting too much, they would have told me.
Despite the huge interest, bizarrely I didn’t feel any greater stress than normal because I didn’t think I was going to get a medal. I knew there was always a chance but I never expected it. Andy always says there’s a chance and ‘If my aunty had balls, she’d be my uncle’, so there is no point thinking ‘what if’. I still think there was greater pressure going to China earlier in the year for the World Cup. My goal was to get above 500 as I had only ever done that once before in a competition. My programme was exactly the same one that I used in the World Cup, so I would be using all the same dives. I wanted to come home feeling proud of myself. That obviously brings pressure but it is a demand I have to handle in every competition, so I felt fine about it. I knew my best chance of a place was in the synchro. The prelim of that was the World Cup, so Blake and I knew we were in the final and there were only eight pairs competing. Anything can happen there. The Greek pair only got into the event in 2004 because the Games were in Athens and they ended up winning because others didn’t dive well, so anything can happen on the day. The individual platform is different because I had to make it through two rounds before even getting to the final. My attitude going to the Games was that it was all about the experience – and to do a good performance. Anything more than that would just be a bonus and I could not wait.
The 2008 Olympics
I woke up bright and early on 27 July – the day I was to leave for Beijing. It was a normal morning with Mum shouting at me to come and get my breakfast and as I legged it downstairs the whole family shouted, ‘Morning, Tom!’ I think they had been planning it. Dad was videoing as I ate my Nesquik cereal. Putting my Olympic tracksuit on for real felt very surreal. I snapped shut my suitcase, forgetting my Nintendo Wii.
After leaving, and going back to pick up the Wii, we met Andy and Tonia and there was a group of people to wave us off, including our families and Tonia’s boyfriend. I said goodbye to my family. Ben was hanging off my neck and William gave me a rare hug.
In the car, Tonia and I unwrapped a present from Brooke, which she insisted that we opened on the way to the airport. Brooke had sadly missed getting a place by an agonizing five points. She got me a SpongeBob SquarePants keyring and Tonia a Patrick Star one to put on our GB bags. We attached them – and sent her a picture to let her know we had opened them. Everywhere we stopped on our journey, we were recognized and I signed loads of autographs. Everyone was wishing us luck.
On the flight we amused ourselves with the mini ping-pong table belonging to one of the 3m synchro divers, Ben Swain, eating Haribo and trying unsuccessfully to get upgraded. I had mentioned Haribo in an interview, saying I loved their sweets, so they sent loads to the house, which was great.
Arriving in Beijing, there was a complete media scrum – the cameras were flashing and I felt like one of those famous Hollywood stars. I wasn’t allowed to do any interviews until after my competition so had to ignore most of them. Stepping outside, it was so humid, like being in a giant steam room. The journey to the Olympic village was only about forty-five minutes and we even had our own Olympic lane! Everywhere in Beijing there were tall buildings, giant cinemas and 24-hour cafés.
THE SIZE OF THE OLYMPIC VILLAGE WAS MIND-BLOWING – IT WAS LIKE A MINI CITY. THE FOOD HALL WAS THE SIZE OF FOUR FOOTBALL PITCHES WITH DISHES FROM COUNTRIES ALL AROUND THE WORLD AND YOU COULD GET AS MUCH AS YOU WANTED, WHENEVER YOU WANTED.
There was a post office where you could send postcards home with a picture of yourself on the stamp, a cinema, huge gym, outdoor pool, a hairdresser’s, shops and a games room with arcade games.
The bedrooms were like very basic student accommodation. In a way it was better, because we could make them feel more homely and stick up our Good Luck cards around the wall and put posters up. It’s traditional for synchro partners to share rooms and to go to bed and get up at the same time, so I shared with Blake. He was a good roommate and I know he liked my positive attitude. While he was twelve years older than me, we clicked when we dived together and felt like we were sharing an incredible journey.
There was a whole team of people with us: Steve Foley, the team manager; the national performance director, Kim White; the coaches, including Andy; the physios, psychologists and doctors. In GB HQ, there were media coordinators, people who sorted the tickets, staff who looked after the accommodation – the list was endless.
The psychologists were there to help us be as positive as we could. They talked us through the ‘What if?’ situations: What if I split my trunks on the first dive? You have to make sure you have an extra pair of trunks in your bag. What if I lose my chamois? Take an extra chamois. What if there is bad news at home? Would you want to know or not? You have to sort out things like that before you go, so you are totally carefree and can focus entirely on the task in hand.
For three days we trained at the Water Cube, which went really well. The rest of the time we explored the village and on one afternoon I went to the market and bought some Chanel bags for my friends, Harriet and Sophie. Everything was so bright and colourful. The local area had an amazing feel to it – the people really got behind all the athletes, no matter what sport or country we were from. Everyone respected you. If they saw you wearing a tracksuit they would want pictures, autographs and the chance to shake your hand. It really was overwhelming. I managed to keep in touch with my friends and family on my laptop. I also sent Team GB postcards home.
We then travelled to Xian for a five-day training camp. We went there because it’s one of China’s regional diving centres, a brilliant place where there is everything we need to prepare. There is an amazing dry-land area with huge trampolines, overhead rigging, a foam pit and crash mats. It was perfect for the run-up to the big competition.
We stayed at the Shangri-La Hotel and it was like living in luxury. The rooms were incredible with huge comfy beds and massive bathrooms and they had floor-to-ceiling windows, so the views over the city were pretty spectacular. It was there that we were first told about an article in the Daily Mail about Tonia and me, and how well we got on. The other athletes called Tonia, Ben and me the ‘Sunshine Group’ because we were always so happy when we were together. I know there were loads of stories in the Beijing press about Tonia and me being together and everyone kept asking if she was my girlfriend. Nowadays she’s just like a sister, but on that trip she was more of a mother, looking after me! In all her press conferences they would always ask her and she would say no, but on the odd occasion she would say yes to see their reactions!
Our time in Xian revolved around dry-land and pool training and meetings. My diving was really consistent and I felt very calm and happy. We often watched our session played back on video to see where we could improve, which was helpful.
We also staged competitions as if they were for real with a parade, scores and announcements, and spoke to the nutritionist about food on our competition days.
In my downtime I mainly played on my Wii and watched videos with Tonia, which helped me relax. I didn’t really socialize with Blake, who mainly stuck with Pete and the older divers. In Xian itself, it was fairly boring, but there was a Starbucks so we always stopped for Frappucinos. We did go to a drive-in golf range, which was amusing because Andy broke a club when he let it go and it snapped against the ceiling, and I managed to hit the man driving a tractor who picked up all the balls.
AT OUR FINAL TEAM MEETING BEFORE HEADING BACK TO BEIJING, WE WERE GIVEN GIANT FLAGS AND BLOW-UP
UNION JACK HANDS. I FELT REALLY EXCITED BUT WAS ALSO STRANGELY SAD TO SAY GOODBYE TO XIAN AND EVERYONE WHO HAD BEEN HELPING US THERE, AS IT ALREADY FELT LIKE THAT PART OF OUR OLYMPIC JOURNEY WAS OVER.
We arrived back in Beijing on 5 August and going back to the Olympic Village was like being right back at home. Everyone had started arriving and it was good to meet or catch up with the other British athletes, like Victoria Pendleton and Beth Tweddle. I met Rafael Nadal one day and got a picture with him – everyone joked that he probably thought I was a ball boy. I teased Tonia loads, because she thought he was really good-looking. I also saw Usain Bolt in the village, but when the really famous athletes were going to the food hall, they were always surrounded by lots of people.
One day I was with Tonia and we were eating breakfast when Jamie and Andy Murray asked if they could sit with us. I almost choked on my cereal. I could not believe they knew my name. I didn’t know what to say. But we just talked about the competition. Andy comes across as a quiet and moody type on TV but he was really upbeat and talkative.
In the first week there was a function at the British Embassy, where they took team photos and there were speeches. We had nominated Pete from the diving team to be the flag bearer but the swimmer Mark Foster was given the job. Gabby Logan, Sue Barker and Jake Humphrey wished me luck and told me to have fun. I even met Princess Anne, who wasn’t what I expected at all. She was really chatty and funny.
The opening ceremony held at the Beijing National Stadium – the Bird’s Nest – was incredible. It all kicked off at 8 p.m. in the evening on the 8th of August – 8 is considered a lucky number to the Chinese. There was some debate about whether I should go because my competition was only a couple of days later, but Sir Steve Redgrave advised me to, saying that he thought I would recover quickly and it would be worth it for the experience and the boost it would give me, and it definitely was.
We were all waiting in this holding area, which was the gymnastics hall, for hours. Tonia and I played the card game Chase the Ace with Andy and Jamie, which helped pass the time. We were wearing our special GB suits, with blue shirts and white jackets and, after standing up for about three hours waiting to go, were all so hot and sweaty, we looked like we had been diving. When they started calling the names of the countries to get ready to line up, each time they announced another team, everyone booed! We were number 116.
WHEN WE FINALLY REACHED THE TUNNEL TO GO INTO THE STADIUM, THE NOISE WAS UNREAL, THE CROWD WAS ROARING. NOTHING COULD HAVE PREPARED ME FOR THE ASSAULT ON MY SENSES. THE STADIUM WAS SO HUGE AND PACKED. DESPITE THE FACT I WAS BOILING, I FELT GOOSE PIMPLES UP MY ARMS AND SHIVERS GOING UP MY SPINE. MY HEART WAS HAMMERING.
It felt like all the hard work was worth it and knowing I was there to represent the country was awesome. I was waving a small Union Jack and smiling to the cameras as we walked. When China came out the stadium erupted. We watched it all unfold on the big screen. There were over 2,000 drummers with glowing drumsticks, fireworks and colourful dancers. Then they lit the Olympic flame and raised the flags. It was phenomenal.
Afterwards I flopped into a bed at 2 a.m. I was exhausted but it was an experience that I will remember forever.
Training continued as normal and my parents had arrived with William and Ben and both sets of grandparents. I met them in the Team GB Lodge, a huge room for the British athletes, where you could get food and drinks or watch the BBC coverage of the games on a huge screen. I played the Beijing Olympic 2008 game on the Xbox with my brothers and when we tried the diving, it was really difficult! It was good to see everyone. They brought me a few treats from home that I had requested, including some Sherbet Dib Dabs, and some underwater cameras.
Tonia, Ben and I also enjoyed seeing the divers from the other countries. We got on really well with the American divers Tom Fincham and Mary Beth Dunnichay. We had a really good talk to them about how our diving was going and how things were at home. After we left them to go back to our apartments, Mary Beth and I exchanged a few flirty texts, which made my day!
Whenever anyone in the team was competing we would blow up our inflatable Union Jack hands and cheer them on. So the following day, after training, we cheered the girls in the 3m synchro. The British team came eighth but they dived really well and it was very close. It was the night before my synchro competition and I felt so upbeat. I just wanted to have fun and could not wait to see everyone waving their flags for Blake and me.
We went through our list of dives in the warm-up while all the other teams were warming up too, but we just focused on what were doing. Then it got serious as we put our tracksuits on and paraded around the pool. Sports minister Gerry Sutcliffe, Olympics minister Tessa Jowell and VIPs, including Bill and Melinda Gates, were on the poolside. I was buzzing with adrenalin.
The Chinese call me ‘Baby Daley’ and the audience were shouting ‘Daley, Daley’ at me and taking loads of pictures. I’m not sure why they don’t call me Tom.
STANDING ON THE EDGE OF THE BOARD AND SEEING THE OLYMPIC RINGS STARING BACK AT ME FROM THE BOTTOM OF THE POOL WAS UNBELIEVABLE – I COULD NOT BELIEVE IT WAS REAL AND I WAS ACTUALLY THERE.
My heart was beating hard and I was sweating a lot so had to keep wiping my face. Our first two dives went well and we were in about fourth or fifth position. Then we did our inward three and a half and, while the synchronization was good, we both went short. It wasn’t a disaster though – we were only around fifth or sixth. We followed this with a back three and a half. Again, the synchro was OK but, while Blake did a perfect entry, I went over. We still had the more difficult dives to go, so I knew we could pull it back and it was important to focus on the positives and moving forwards.
Our fifth dive was the reverse three and a half and Blake landed on his back on the way in and that’s when he started to get angry.
‘For god’s sake, why can’t we do this?’ he said.
I replied: ‘Let’s finish with a good one; let’s show everyone we can do it.’
I put my earphones in to get back into the zone. I listen to upbeat stuff to get me pumped up.
THEN I SAW HIM ON THE PHONE. IT WAS WEIRD HE HAD HIS PHONE ON HIM FULL STOP – IT WAS THE OLYMPIC FINAL. I WAS GOING TO LET IT GO BUT I TOOK AN EARPHONE OUT TO SEE WHO HE WAS SPEAKING TO.
‘I’m sorry, Mum, I don’t know what’s happening, and it’s not going very well,’ he was saying. ‘Tom’s being all moody.’
I called over to him.
‘Blake, shouldn’t you be off your phone now? Don’t apologize to your mum. We need to go out there and show everyone what we can do.’
‘Don’t tell me what to do. I can do what I want.’
That’s when I looked at him and put my earphones back in. I felt really annoyed and thought, ‘Just grow up, Blake!’
In the end he walked up for our final dive – the back two and a half somersaults with one and a half twists – with a defeated expression and his chamois cloth around his neck. It was a good effort but wasn’t enough to push us up the board. We finished with a total of 408.48 in eighth place. The Chinese who won gold were 60 points ahead of us with 468.18. It was disappointing but I didn’t feel awful; I knew we could have done better but I was determined to learn from the experience.
The only reason that it got into the press was because we were walking into the mixed zone where all the cameras were with Dave Richards, the media guy. The Chinese press were first in the line and were asking me lots of questions, under the dazzling TV lights. I was telling them how it went, trying to be as positive as possible.
‘YEAH, OF COURSE WE ARE DISAPPOINTED BUT IT WAS A GREAT EXPERIENCE AND I REALLY ENJOYED MYSELF. I HAD SO MUCH FUN OUT THERE. THAT’S ALL YOU CAN ASK, GETTING THE EXPERIENCE. NOW I’M LOOKING TO 2012, LIKE I’VE ALWAYS SAID … ’
The English media were separate and, while I was still talking, they beckoned Blake over. He sneaked off and we didn’t think anything of it. I guess they had spotted our body language on the poolside. By the time we got nearer to him, I co
uld hear him.
‘I wasn’t on the top of my game, but I out-dived Thomas and that’s not something that normally happens. He was very nervous, more so than ever before. He had a pop at me before the last dive, when we were sitting down. I saw my mum in the audience and asked her to give me a call and he said, “Why are you on the phone? We’re still in the competition and we’ve got another dive to do.” That’s just Thomas – he’s over-nervous. Thomas should not be worrying about what I’m doing, but he was worrying about everyone and everything and that’s the sole reason he didn’t perform.’
Dave Richards was soon in there, pushing him away.
‘That’s enough now. No more press. We’re leaving,’ he said.
Obviously I was annoyed but I didn’t really think we’d had a big falling out. We were sharing a room after all.
I went back to the GB Lodge where my family were with Blake and it was just normal with us. Mum and Dad congratulated us both and I got lots of hugs from everyone. I played on the Xbox with my brothers and then back in our accommodation that evening, I played Cow Racing with the diver Ben Swain on my Wii to unwind.
The next day it was all over the papers. Blake was clearly really embarrassed. He said, ‘You need to tell them what I said and that’s not what I think. It’s ruined my image.’
I said to him, ‘You’re the one who said it. They’ve quoted you. You’re the one that needs to get yourself out of the mess.’
We still didn’t know the scale of it in the UK. It’s like being in the Big Brother house in the village; you do not know anything about what’s going on outside. Dad had been given the heads-up by some of the journalists that he had got to know at competitions and he was particularly furious about it.