Tom Daley (14yo) blamed by partner for diving failure

[MmeLindt]

Just seen this in the Times

What do you think?

Is 14yo too young to compete in the Olympics? Was it unfair of his partner to put the blame on him?

It does not sound like there is much "Olympic spirit" in Blake Aldridge.

Bit harsh of Aldridge IMO.

I think that young athletes like Daley should take part in more competitions of that nature, we seem to have a tendency in the UK to only send them if they have a chance of a medal - but doing that they never really get a chance to gain experience........then before you know it they're too old and reaching their prime before getting their chance and as it's new to them their nerves affect them more.

Hmmm - not really the comments of a team player.

Miserable git. Very unsportsmanlike to moan about his partner like that, especially when that partner is 14 years old (and what the fuck was Aldridge doing taking mobile phone calls in the middle of the competition).

Mind you, proves the point that all those teachers who claim sport teaches team spirit are wrong... which is quite satisfying for those of us who hated PE at school.

Oh the poor boy.

I'm eyeing him as potential son-in-law material - my 10yo DD is so in love with him that she wants to take up diving

That is the way I see it too, not very sporting of him.

I do agree with FAQ that young athletes should have the opportunity to take part in world class competitions. It must be a hard blow for a 14yo to cope with.

Perhaps it was a bit too much pressure, with all the press following his every move.

I watched it,and although I'm no diving expert,(I did dive at local Junior Level) they're synchronicity was good, it was just they're entry into the water that let them down.
As far as I could see, and it was commented on by the commentators that was what let them both down.

Personally think it's sour grapes as Tom has been getting lots of publicity. Wait till 2012 this experience will great for Tom.

well i watched it and they were both off on their entries, whether tom was more off than aldridge I don't know. This is the olympics, you can not afford to be anything but perfect, they both weren't. shouldn't matter that one was more off than the other, this is a partnership, the pressure was on, everyone knows tom daleys name but do you know the other chap? they are both young and I'm sure they will be big in their sport someday. For crikes sakes they are 14 and 18 and were in the top 8 of the olympics, they should be proud and take the experience onto London.

oh moonmother how spooky, I've typed nearly the same as you

You'd have to see how he said it. It reads to me as though he could well have been trying to say "Back off, media -- all the pressure you're putting on Tom is affecting him badly and he's got another event next week" and it came out wrong.

I was dragged out of be by my 6yo DS to watch this, and I would've said that it was Aldridge, not Daley, who let the team down. Daley's entries into the water were, for the most part, faultless; it was Aldridge making the big splashes as far as I could see.

Daley is a brilliant diver with a glittering career ahead of him; Aldridge is probably competing in his next to last Olympics. I can't believe that Aldridge is being so quick to say this of his partner and team-mate, especially when the expectation of them getting a medal was so slim anyway. It would seem that there is more than a little jealousy on Aldridge's part.

blimey littlelapin, I wonder where I got 18 from?

lol castille, he seems to have inspired my 11 yr old too, who swims for her school.

although leon taylor wanted to compete and he is 31

i don't think aldridge should have been mouthing off about his partner like this, whatever his age
very unsporting

i think it's very unsporting for blake aldrige to diss tom daley....are we sure he's english?!

the good thing is, tom daley's got lots more chances to win medals, as he's so young. hope he doesn't get disheartened and want to give up.

btw, he's the only boy my dd looks at!

I actually thought out of all the pair's dives Daley's entries were better than Aldridege's who made a splash on every single entry where Daley only seemed to get it wrong on the third.

surely if there was someone better then that person would have made it to the Olympics, I assume he qualified in some way

sounds like someone is bitter, they'd be better off just blaming it on being shit.

Blake Aldridge was out of order imvho. Very unsporting, especially when they've still got to compete.

I've not seen him talking, but I have seen other team members (mainly rowing) and they've all been talking about how important the team is.

DS1, (almost 14 so may be biased) suggested that Aldridge was more at fault.

Oh, he probably shouldn't have said it - maybe he's just pissed off with being the "invisible" partner to the golden boy (who I do love - not knocking him) - I suspect Blake's just a bit fed up with all the attention being on Tom, and lashed out a bit. Not the right thing to do, but it's kind of a "big brother" comment, a bit daft, but prob just a reaction to stress and media etc.