Tom Daley will begin his campaign to become a double Olympic diving champion when he competes in the qualifying stages of the 10m platform event tomorrow.
The 27-year-old, who won his first gold medal in the men’s 10m synchro last week, will aim to repeat this success in the individual event, in which he is two-times world champion and a bronze medal winner from London 2012.
He will compete in a much quieter pool than the rest of his team-mates, whose events were scheduled for earlier during the Games and who enjoyed the support of fellow athletes in the stands. Daley’s team-mate, Lois Toulson, joked that Daley had been trying to recruit Team GB staff to come and support him. “He knows we’ll be supporting him from home, so I’m sure he’ll do fine,” she said.
Toulson finished in ninth place in her final today, in the women’s 10m platform event. Fellow British diver Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix finished in seventh. Toulson said she was “disappointed” with her performance but that she would take away positive lessons from her experience. “I’ve definitely found it quite hard, not just physically, but mentally as well. It’s a really tough sport; I think some people underestimate how challenging it can be. I will use it as experience for the future and there are better things to come.”
The pair certainly proved the future is bright for British diving. Spendolini-Sirieix, who is the daughter of Fred, the famous maitre d’ of Channel 4’s First Dates restaurant, is just 16 years old. She said she was “very, very proud” of her seventh-place finish. Her father even made an appearance on the TV screen at the pool, popping up via video call on the “athlete moments” screen, which allows athletes to speak to their families when they have received their results, alongside her mother, aunt, and cousins.
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“I was speaking to my family and I started crying,” she said. “They said that they were very proud and that I should be proud as well. They said they miss me and I miss them.”
The event was won by Quan Hongchang, of China, who is 14 years old. She executed two perfect ten dives and one 9.5, out of five dives. She is the youngest female Olympic diving champion in almost three decades, since the Barcelona Games.
