Young Shoulders
So what do we think of "little Tom's" display in the Olympic diving display?? Does it matter that he did not win, or come in the top 3? Does it matter that his displays saw him (pardon the pun) plummet in the standings?
His dive partner said in interview he was upset at finishing so poorly, whereas Tom was beaming with a smile than outshone the glimmer off the pool. Surely a boy of fourteen is not going to do so well that he beats off opposition with years superiority of experience. A lad who is glad at having just finished his SATs and is off for the summer.
Now sure, his coach knows him better than I, or anyone else does. And if this was his honest way of getting Tom some Olympic experience then I personally think, good on him. He has clearly prepared him psychologically for the demise that was oh so obvious. Maybe Tom's diving partner should have been a bit more supportive of him and gone along with this instead of feeling sorry for himself.
I hope people agree that Tom is worth his weight in gold and will surely progress to success at a later date...
 | Author: | scousemouse78 (scousemouse78's profile, scousemouse78's blog) |
 | Posted On: | Tuesday, 12th August '08, 10:36am |
 | Tags: | Coaching, Exercise, Fitness, Genetics, Gymnastics, Overtraining, Physiology, Proprioceptive, Psychology, Stretching, Swimming, Training and Winning |
 | Comments: | 2 comments, go to comments |
Comments
I certainly agree with you.
I certainly agree with you. What a lot of people are forgetting (or don't realise) is that he was in an Olympic final. At the age of 14 he has not only qualified for, but passed through the heats and semi's and was in The Final. For most of us just getting there would be beyond our wildest dreams.Ok, so he didn't win a medal, he only finished 7th, does it really matter? To him it was all for experience and he seemed more than happy with 7th. So why should we think any different? The Olympics means different things to different people. For some people it is purely about Gold, Shanaze Reade as a multiple World Champion in both BMX and track cycling, silver wasn't an option and she fought to the end against probably the most decorated female MTB/BMX rider of all time, and yet gets critism about how she rode and "threw away a medal chance". For the vast majority of people sitting at home watching the television it is about winning gold and getting more medals than anyone else.
Daley always said that he
Daley always said that he was not good enough to win a medal, it was only the press who hyped it up because of his age.
Having said that, he showed a massive amount of confidence both in the event, and in being interviewed, for someone of his age.
If he manages to keep away from the inevitable distractions over the next four years, I'm sure he will be a good bet for a medal in London 2012