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13-Year-Old Diver Wins European Gold

Posted March 26, 2008 at 08:31 AM by Michael J. Sedor

Section: Beijing 2008, Beijing Results, London 2012, Culture/History, Human Interest, Events, Aquatics, Columns/Blogs, Michael Sedor

Which athlete is going to unexpectedly steal your heart at the Beijing Olympics? Our guess is Great Britain’s 13-year-old diving champion Tom Daley. He stands only 5’2”, weighs only 102 lbs, he wears braces, he lists the social networking site facebook.com as one of his pastimes, and he introduces his youtube diving videos with text emoticons. Don’t be fooled, Daley is an extraordinary diver. At last month’s FINA Diving World Cup Tom finished seventh in the 10m platform and bronze in the 10m synchronized. These finishes booked him a ticket to China but it was his amazing gold medal-winning performance at last weekend’s European Swimming Championships that demonstrably announced Daley’s talent to the world.

After winning the gold Daley humbly told the BBC that “I know I can improve and be better and I know I can become more consistent. But I’m not expecting a medal in Beijing, I’ve just got to get ready for London 2012.” We’re not so sure. We think he’s going to surprise a lot of people at this summer’s Olympics. Greg Lougains was only 16 when he won silver at Montreal in 1976. Why can’t Tom Daley do the same at 14?

One look at the young man’s youtube.com page and you’ll be convinced. His tiny body soars into the chasm below knifing splash-less into the pool. Then a text cut-out appears reading “I scored a 10 :D” and you smile as wide as the :D emoticon. Then he does it again and again and again. The 10m platform begins to look higher and higher. His body appears to be narrower then the platform’s guard rails. How does he do it how does the little guy find the courage?

Then, in the Daily Mail, you read about his dad, a 38-year old small business owner who recently had a fist-sized tumor removed from his brain. You begin to get it and you root for the kid even more.