Saturday, August 7, 2021

Medal Alert: Daley secures bronze to become first Team GB diver to win four Olympic medals

Tom Daley added individual 10m platform bronze to the synchronised gold he won alongside Matty Lee in Tokyo to become the first Team GB diver to win four Olympic medals.


The 27-year-old matched his London 2012 result with six excellent dives but was beaten by record-breaking performances from China’s Cao Yuan and Jian Yang.


Daley was in the lead at the halfway point as he

charged out of the blocks with scores of 98.60, 91.20 and 91.80 from his first three dives.


However, a slight error on entry on his fourth dive proved costly as the judges awarded it 80.50, a strong score but not enough to maintain his lead and he fell to third.


Daley rebounded brilliantly on his penultimate dive, scoring 94.35, but both Yuan and Yang extended their advantage with sensational dives of their own.


Yuan, a two-time Olympic champion, was 23.30 points up on Daley heading into the final round, while Yang was just 11.20 ahead of the Brit.


Daley delivered another strong dive, scoring 91.80 to finish with a massive 548.25 and cement a fourth Olympic medal with distance to spare between he and the rest of the field.


Daley, 27, from Plymouth, said: "I am so happy that this Olympics has gone the way it has.


"I feel like a different athlete, I feel like I've been through so many different things over the years.


"At the end of May, I didn't even know if I was going to make it to these Games. I tore my meniscus and had knee surgery, I always dreamed I'd be fit enough to come back and dive at these Olympics.


"If someone had told me I was going to win a gold and a bronze, I probably would have laughed in their face.


"I owe this medal to so many people. I'm standing on the podium but there are so many people behind the medal.


"Once you're in the final, that's what I love. I love competition when it counts, there was great competition with the two Chinese divers, they pulled away when I missed it a little bit on the fourth dive.


"I'm extremely happy to come away with another Olympic medal."

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