London 2012 Olympics: Bold Tom Daley is not diving into the unknown

YOU wouldn’t call it sledging per se, but Tom Daley has plenty to say about the nature of pressure at these Olympics and how his great rival, the Chinese phenomenon Qiu Bo, might struggle to deal with it.

Bo is a prodigious collector of major titles and perfect tens; Daley is one of the nation’s sweethearts. They’ll meet on 10 August with the Chinese deemed a near unbackable favourite for gold, not that Daley sees it that way.

“It’s one of those things that if you constantly put pressure on the Chinese they’re more likely to falter,” he said. “It’s just about whether they’ve learned to deal with the pressure. Or whether he [Qiu] is going to perform on the day. Pressure isn’t a bad thing. I quite like pressure. Divers either handle pressure or they don’t. And I have had it going into competition for a long time. I’ve also had the Olympic experience in Beijing and had the pressure environment there. Qiu Bo hasn’t done an Olympic Games.”

No, he hasn’t. And, of course, Daley has. He was only 14 in Beijing. With a smile he talks about how young he was back then, as if he’s a veteran now at 18. “You honestly don’t know in diving,” he said, like an old pro delivering a world view. “It’s a sport where from taking off from the board to hitting the water it’s just 1.6 seconds. You hit the water at 34mph and in between that gap, anything can happen.”

Anything can happen. Daley recounts the tale of Athens 2004 to make his point. China were fancied but failed, Russia were favourites but one of their divers hit the board, then the Americans became favourites until they, too, messed up, leaving the unheralded Greeks to take the glory. “You just don’t know what’s going to happen.”

Daley is a fascinating mixture of sweetness and fight. He’s charming, but make no mistake, he’s not all butter-wouldn’t-melt. Yesterday, he spoke at length and with a passion that was intoxicating. On Monday, the talking stops and it’s time to perform. First up for Daley is the synchronised 10m platform with his partner, Pete Waterfield. Beyond that, Qiu awaits.

“For me, both events are just as strong as each other. We have both shown good performances in the individual and in the synchro. Synchro is tough. It’s eight teams and all of them could win medals. You can’t guess the result of the 10m synchro. I wouldn’t like to put any money on it. All the preparation has been good but it means nothing unless you handle it on the day.”

It’s been an extraordinary year for Daley, by turns tragic and exhilarating. The ups have come by way of his improving form and his relish for these Games; the downs, of course, have taken him to a desperate place. The loss of his father, Rob, leaves a hole that can never be filled, certainly not by a gold medal, but it’s still the fairytale story that everybody wants to see. For feelgood, the thought of Daley with a winner’s medal would take some topping in terms of raw emotion, not that he is allowing himself to go there.

And nor is his performance director, Alexei Evangulov. The Russian is a hard taskmaster who had some harsh words for Daley earlier in the year, questioning his focus in this age of celebrity and drawing a comparison with Anna Kournikova, the prodigy from his homeland who was always criticised for valuing fame more than tennis and who saw her on-court career evaporate as a consequence.

Evangulov said he was surprised by the reaction to his comments back then, but he shouldn’t have been. Daley, like Jessica Ennis, is a protected species you criticise at your peril. “It was about personality,” said Evangulov yesterday. “Tom possesses great personality, but if you have only personality it’s not enough to be a great athlete. You have to work hard and he actually works very hard. But I’m a greedy coach and I always need more. Tom has competed greatly over the last couple of months, but it’s not enough for me. I am tough and demanding.”

Daley says all that stuff is behind him now. “Alexei is what British diving needed,” he said, a remark that drew a thank-you from the Russian.

How has Daley changed in the last four years? “There are two big differences. Going into Beijing I was young. It was an amazing experience and I thought ‘This is great, go out and have fun’ because at 14 I knew I wasn’t going to challenge for the medals. Now, going into London, I have had that experience of an Olympics and other competitions. This is the same as any other world event, but it just means that extra bit more because the five rings are on the wall. The main thing that has changed for me is my mindset.

“It’s obviously been a very tough year but going into this, the only thing I can focus on is my performance. I know all my family will be there watching. Everyone has tickets, which is great. It’s always there in the back of your head [the death of his father] and it would be extra special if I could do well.”

Again and again he stresses the reality of his sport. You can do all the dives you like in practice, but they don’t matter. It’s all about the moment. “It’s such an on-the-day sport,” he said.

He senses from elsewhere that there is an expectation of gold, an assumption that he will win. “Whenever you’re walking through the streets and somebody comes up to you they’re like, ‘Oh yeah, bring home the gold! Go and do it! Bring it back!’ They think it’s just the easiest thing, they automatically assume that you’re just going to walk into the pool and you’re going to come back with a gold medal around your neck. Any athlete will tell you that it’s not that easy.”

There’s an old head on those young shoulders. Nothing so precious is ever that easy.