by Daley, Tom
He thought it wasn’t exactly good team spirit and each time I tried to bat it away saying it wasn’t serious, he disagreed. He was right.
I felt quite let down and a bit deflated. It was awkward then. We did an interview together to try and smooth it over and Blake kept saying there was ‘no friction’ and it was just a ‘little incident’, but I guess by then the damage had been done.
I knew he had spoken to the press before we came out to the Olympics, saying that the attention on me was hard to deal with and that we were a team. He had a part-time job at the B&Q to make ends meet and had overcome a catalogue of injuries to be there. I guess it was his last chance, he had blown it and he had taken it out on me.
I was really annoyed that headlines were taken by us and not Rebecca Adlington and Joanne Jackson, who had won gold and bronze in the women’s freestyle a few hours before our event. There was always a fantastic feeling in the Lodge when anyone won a medal. I hate the fact the press always home in on the negative stuff. I knew I just had to forget about it and focus on the rest of the competition.
The next day I trained as normal and cheered Tonia and Stacie Powell in the Women’s 10m synchro event. They dived well, and came in eighth place, with the Chinese taking gold again. Every time the Chinese dived, there was a huge howl from the stadium. Back in the village, Tonia and I went crazy in McDonald’s, which was great but it was the only day of eating rubbish for me, as I needed to start thinking about preparing properly for my individual. Mark Foster joined us there, which was a bit bizarre, but he was just lovely and told us he had not had a coach for eight years but had just succeeded on his own, which is incredible.
In the evening, I spent some more time with Mary Beth. I had been told she really liked me and I liked her too. I really wanted to kiss her but in the end I ended up just giving her a peck on the cheek. Back in our apartments, Tonia told me off and said I should have gone for it. Mary Beth texted me telling me to go back, so I ended up walking back to her room alone, and gave her a proper kiss, which was amazing. On my way back to my accommodation I was told off for being in the Americans’ accommodation, so I put on an American accent and pretended I was wearing a GB T-shirt. I don’t think it worked.
With more than a week before the individual competition, as well as training every day we got to do some fun stuff. One day I watched the gymnastics team compete at the National Indoor Stadium. Ben and Nick Robinson-Baker also competed in the 3m Men’s Synchro and they did really well. They should have got fourth but ended up coming seventh, which was very frustrating for them, I think. In the individual springboard event He Chong scored 572. It was a world record and he was so incredible, it was unreal. When he got his medal, he started crying, and Alex Despatie, who got silver, was punching the air. The atmosphere was electric.
After a very offensive 5 a.m. start the next day, we went to the Great Wall of China. We went up in a cable car and took loads of pictures at the top, but the best part was coming back down again in a toboggan. All the supervisors were telling me to slow down. It was brilliant fun!
It was also good to learn about the country’s history. I cannot believe they carried the rocks two at a time to build it.
In my training sessions, I would do some trampolining, dry-board, abs somersaults and stretch out before going to the pool to practise my list. I felt that 500 was a good benchmark and achievable.
AROUND THIS TIME TEAM GB HAD A REAL RUSH OF GOLD MEDALS IN THE CYCLING, SAILING AND POOL SO THERE WAS A GREAT BUZZ AROUND THE OLYMPIC VILLAGE. IT WAS SUCH A FANTASTIC ATMOSPHERE AND I FELT SO HONOURED TO BE PART OF IT.
Tonia came twelfth in the women’s 10m individual prelims, so made it through to the semi-final. She dived really consistently and we all thought she had come fourteenth, but she had actually come in twelfth place again and I picked her up and hugged her really hard. In the final, she was fifth going into the last round but dropped her reverse dive, and ended up in eighth place. I was really happy for her.
I was also able to show Mum and Dad round the village and where I was staying. Dad, like me, thought the best thing was the food hall and the free McDonald’s! I showed them all the pictures I had been taking and they bought loads of souvenirs from the special shop. It was really good knowing they were there just outside the village. I spoke to them on the phone, too, with special SIM cards.
One day in the village we chatted to the swimmers, who had competed on the third day and said they were really bored but I could not understand it. In our free time, there always seemed like there was loads to do. I even had my hair cut in the special hairdresser’s. Apparently they were trainees and my hair was a bit thin afterwards!
I sorted out my play list for my competition: I chose ‘Cold Shoulder’ – Basement Jaxx remix; ‘I Can Walk on Water I Can Fly’ – Basshunter; ‘Jumpstyle’ – Basshunter; ‘Piece Of Me’ – Britney Spears (Bimbo Jones remix); ‘Trippin on You’ – Cahill; ‘Forever’ – Chris Brown; ‘I Just Wanna Make Love to You’ – Etta James; ‘Sweet About Me’ – Gabriella Cilmi; ‘What We Gonna Do’ – H20; ‘No Air’ – Jordin Sparks featuring Chris Brown; ‘Give It to Me’ – Madonna; ‘If I Never See Your Face Again’ – Maroon 5 featuring Rihanna; ‘Disturbia’ – Rihanna; ‘Who’s That Girl’ – Robyn; ‘Cry for You’ – September; ‘Take a Bow’ – Rihanna Clubland B remix; ‘Fix Me’ – Velvet; ‘Run the Show’ – Kat DeLuna; ‘Watch Out Alex’ – Gaudino featuring Shena; ‘All I Ever Wanted’ – Basshunter; and ‘Groove Coverage’ – Poison. This list seems really old now but it was good at the time. After doing that I started to mentally prepare myself as I faced the individual event.
Flying The GB Flag
As I started the prelims in the individual event, I was really, really nervous.
AS WE MARCHED ROUND THE POOLSIDE I COULD SEE THE BRITISH GYMNASTICS TEAM, WHO HAD COME TO WATCH, WHICH FELT GREAT, AND SAW MY FAMILY WAVING THEIR FLAG. THROUGHOUT THE EVENT, I GOT REALLY LOUD CHEERS, WHICH HELPED A LOT, AND I COULD DEFINITELY HEAR MY UNCLE KEVIN. I TRIED TO SMILE BEFORE EVERY DIVE, BECAUSE IT WOULD HELP ME RELAX.
In my first dive, I missed my hands slightly, and scored 7 and 7.5s, but made it up with my second dive, the front three and a half somersaults, where I got 8 and 8.5s. My third dive, an inward three and a half, was my best dive. My form in the air was great and I finished high enough to pike out, and execute a good entry with barely a ripple as I landed. I managed to get into my armstand with hardly any wobbles but was still really scared I would come down. My entry was slightly over and I got 7.5s and 8s. My back three and a half started well but was a tiny bit over and my sixth dive, a reverse three and a half somersaults, didn’t get a very good start. I jumped a little too far forwards, so was slow and low finishing for 6s. My total score was around 440.40 and twelfth, so just enough to qualify for the semis the following day.
I slept well and was up early. I was desperate to put in a consistent performance. After the parade I sat down and made a point of putting my lucky monkey beside me, and the camera panned over to me where the monkey was sat and I was listening to my iPod with Tonia’s pink earphones because I had forgotten mine, which was embarrassing!
I had a shaky start but my fourth-round jump – an armstand back triple somersault with tuck – earned me 86.4 points and put me back in with a chance. I followed that up with a good backward three and a half somersaults, which brought in 89.1 points, and eventually finished eighth on 458.6. I know it wasn’t as sharp as it could have been and I was already thinking about the final and improving my performance. Unfortunately Pete, who had a shoulder injury, just missed out by one place, having been in the top ten until his third dive dropped him to thirteenth. There are always surprises and it was a shock that Sascha Klein, who had won the World Cup in February, didn’t qualify. After doing some press, Mum and Dad managed to wangle their way onto the bus to see me, which gave me a real lift.
Going into the final later that day, I remember standing on the board and smiling, trying to feel calm
and positive. I knew I had to make the most of it. I could see the Union Jacks waving. Chris Hoy, the British cycling and gymnastic teams, and Gordon Brown were all there willing me on. It was going well and, even though I didn’t realize it, I was joint fourth after the first round after doing my back two and a half somersaults with one and a half twists piked – one of my most difficult dives – and scoring 81.6.
I continued to do well on both my front three and a half somersaults piked and my inward three and a half somersaults with tuck. However, as the other divers started to do their more difficult dives, I started to drop down the board. After my second dive I was in seventh and then slipped another place after round three, but my fifth dive, a back three and a half somersaults with tuck, gained 84.15 and lifted me back up to sixth.
MY FINAL DIVE, MY REVERSE THREE AND A HALF SOMERSAULTS WITH TUCK, I HAD ONLY LEARNED ABOUT SIX MONTHS EARLIER, SO IT WAS MY NEWEST AND HARDEST DIVE.
I only scored 64.6 and that cost me a place, so I was seventh. Matt Mitcham picked up the gold after his penultimate dive scored 112.10, the highest score of the Games, taking him above China’s Zhou Luxin. It was great to see that the Chinese could be beaten and I was delighted with my position.
I was really tired afterwards but had to do loads of press and then pictures and autographs. In the bus on the way back to the village, people were banging on the window giving me things to sign.
When I got back to the GB Lodge, everyone was cheering, which was cool. I stayed with my family for a while and then had to do some interviews live with Gabby Logan. Chris Hoy and a boxer called James DeGale, who won gold in the middleweight category, were also on the sofa and we all had a glass of champagne but I wasn’t allowed to drink it.
The following day I was given loads of presents by random Chinese people, including loads of hanging reeds, keyrings and Olympic mascots, which were really cute. As well as Baby Daley I had learnt my Chinese fans had started to call me ‘Little Briton’ and ‘Peking Tom’, which are funny nicknames!
I was bursting with excitement about the closing ceremony, because they handed over the Olympic flame to London.
It was similar to the opening ceremony. We had to wait an hour and a half and while we were waiting we drew tattoos on our faces of the British flag and the Olympic rings. As we went to do our lap of honour, the noise was deafening, and the crowd was like a sea of faces. I sat on Ben’s shoulders. The show was incredible – a double-decker bus drove in and Leona Lewis came out of it and sang and then David Beckham came out and kicked a ball into the crowd. There was a huge party afterwards. It was such a brilliant feeling to be part of a bigger team. In the GB Lodge they had laid on loads of British nibbles like cheese and pineapple on sticks and sausage rolls. People were dancing and chatting. The divers and the gymnasts stuck together.
We all agreed to meet for an early McDonald’s the next day, so at 6 a.m. I found myself ordering a sausage and hash brown, despite the fact I felt really sick. We said goodbye to all the other divers, including the Americans, and headed off to the airport.
Boarding the plane home, Team GB had an entire plane to themselves, so we hadn’t yet rejoined the real world. British Airways fitted the plane with a gold nose cone and renamed it ‘Pride’ after the Team GB mascot. All the gold medallists got upgraded to First Class; I was somewhere in the middle. We spent some time talking to the cabin crew, who asked for our autographs. I felt sad to be going home. It was the best month of my life and I had so many amazing memories. I could not believe I would have to wait for another four years to do it all over again.
When we landed on the tarmac at Heathrow loads of people were waiting for us, including Gordon Brown, Culture Secretary Andy Burnham, Tessa Jowell and loads of press. As we descended the steps all the staff and everyone else were clapping and cheering. Gordon Brown was there and Tessa gave me a massive hug. It was quite surreal.
Walking through the sliding doors into the arrivals area was madness. There were paparazzi and flashing cameras and people everywhere cheering and smiling. We were escorted to a nearby hotel, and as Tonia and I walked in, BBC1 was playing my post-competition interview back.
I WAS SHOCKED TO LEARN HOW MANY PEOPLE HAD WATCHED MY EVENT – 1.3 BILLION!
It’s not really a number you can comprehend. It was overwhelming. Some of the other athletes met their families and it was lovely to see some emotional reunions as people met their loved ones. Mum and Dad had flown home with the rest of the family a few days earlier, so had gone straight home to Plymouth. I didn’t mind, though, as I was so busy and knew I would see them soon. Everyone wanted autographs and pictures and I had to do another round of TV chats.
After a few hours, I was exhausted and relieved when Tonia, Andy and I left the group to make the drive back to Plymouth. As we sped along the motorway, we were quiet and thoughtful. I promised myself I would come back stronger, more focused and more consistent in four years’ time with a harder list of dives. I would throw every last bit of energy and determination I had into it.
Coming Home
WE WENT CAMEL RIDING AND SAND DUNING AS WELL, WHICH WERE AMAZING EXPERIENCES. WE ALSO TOOK SOME INCREDIBLE PICTURES OF US ALL DOING SYNCHRONIZED SOMERSAULTS TOGETHER IN THE SURF.’
Back in Plymouth, everyone wanted to congratulate me and hear about my time in Beijing. The invites started to come in thick and fast and I attended the EA launch party for the Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2009 game, where I met Rupert Grint and other stars of Harry Potter, plus Ashley Cole and Dizzee Rascal. I was also interviewed on the TV show, Sound, and met McFly and the presenters Annie Mac and Nick Grimshaw.
IT FELT QUITE STRANGE THAT EVERYONE WANTED ME AT THEIR DIFFERENT EVENTS, BUT I LOVED GOING TO LONDON AND MEETING ALL THE PEOPLE I HAD ONLY SEEN ON TV.
A few weeks after that, I attended a completely different event: the Pride of Britain Awards. On the red carpet everyone was screaming my name and I actually felt what it must be like to be a celebrity – very weird. It was a really heart-warming event and a special experience to hear about the inspirational people who won awards. I also met stars like Geri Halliwell, Richard Branson, Joan Collins and Dannii Minogue. I made sure I got as many photos as possible to add to my collection, which is one of the reasons that I would never refuse anyone a picture now, as I know what it is like to be on the other side.
The attention from girls also seemed to ramp up a gear. I don’t think I could ever get tired of the female attention but it’s a bit overwhelming when you just want to be with your friends, and sometimes the girls are quite freaky. They come and scream in my face and I never know what to say. Some of them are quite attractive but it’s the prettier ones that don’t come up because they are normally the cooler ones. Soon after, someone posted a link on my Facebook wall to a YouTube video of a girl singing ‘I Kissed a Girl’ by Katy Perry, but instead of ‘girl’, it was ‘Tom Daley’ and she rewrote all the words with lines like ‘Tom is hot like hell, it’s not his fault’, ‘He was just a seven placer but for me he is a winner’ and ‘Tom’s got a hot body and we cannot blame him for that’. I thought it was a joke at first – but it wasn’t! Underneath she’d written ‘Sorry for my voice’. It was hilarious – if a little bit freaky.
Me and my new celeb pals!
Heading back to school in September just felt really normal and it was good to see my friends and catch up with everyone after the holidays. Some of the new Year 7 girls kept asking me for my autograph, which was a bit weird. Tonia actually created my autograph for me, when I was just ten. We were messing around at training one day and she told me I could not have a boring signature that anyone was able to copy and that I needed a decent one, so she wrote it and I copied it. It has been my signature ever since.
I started my GCSEs: Maths, two English, two Science, four IT and Spanish, and later, when I moved to Plymouth College, I added Photography to that list.
My diving partner, Max Brick, heading for the water.
I was back to competing very quic
kly and at the end of September I headed to Germany for the FINA World Junior Championships, where I won two silver medals in the fourteen- to fifteen-year-old age group. It was the first time I had competed in the event because before I was too young. I scored five perfect 10s for my back three and a half somersaults with tuck and got a personal best of 549.60, which was great but not quite good enough, unfortunately. It was the first time I had competed against Chinese diver Qiu Bo and he just beat me with 551.85 points.
I HAD NEVER SEEN QIU AT A COMPETITION BEFORE BUT HE HAD A HARDER LIST THAN I DID AND WAS CONSISTENTLY LANDING ON HIS HEAD. I COULD NOT BELIEVE THERE WAS YET ANOTHER CHINESE DIVER IN THE MIX. I FELT MY MENTALITY START TO CHANGE; I WASN’T JUST DOING IT FOR THE EXPERIENCE, I WAS GOING FOR GOLD.
I also had a go at the springboard and picked up another silver medal with 485.25 points.
16 October 2009 is a date that will stick in my head for a long time. I had the day off school to take part in the parade around London with 500 members of Olympic and Paralympic Team GB, including the sixty-nine medallists. It was a really bright and sunny day and we could not believe how many people had come to watch us. Trafalgar Square was completely packed out with people waving Union Jacks and foam hands; it was like a huge sea of heads and it was so noisy! All the medallists were on the first bus and I was on the second bus with Tonia, Blake and the rest of the diving team. I was pleased that Blake and I could put everything that had happened behind us. We were still diving together and were planning to compete together again the following February.
Everyone was waving and cheering and taking pictures of us; it was like we were gods. The atmosphere was amazing and I kept thinking, ‘If this is the spirit of the people and the Olympic Games isn’t even in London, I cannot imagine what it’s going to be like in 2012.’