Practice makes perfect for London 2012 gold medal hopeful Daley

By Gerard Meagher, Sportsbeat

WORLD champion Tom Daley has single-mindedly set his sights on gold at the London 2012 Olympics - even if it means taking the long road to the capital.

BIGGER PICTURE: Tom Daley is concentrating on the bigger picture of London 2012 despite a host of international competitions this year

With today marking two years to go until the torch arrives in east London, it is precisely the same amount of time since Daley donned the Olympic rings for the first time in Beijing as a fresh-faced 14-year-old and Great Britain's second youngest ever Olympian.

Seventh and eighth place finishes in the individual and the synchro respectively demonstrated Daley's evident potential but a year later he made a mockery of those who suggested the cotton-wool treatment with a stunning gold medal at the World Championships in Rome.

A year on and Daley is refusing to stand still. As well as revising for his GCSEs, the 16-year-old has set about perfecting four new dives to enhance his difficulty levels with the end goal of earning more points.

It has meant that for the time-being Daley's high standards have slipped. Pete Waterfield, an Olympic silver medallist at Athens 2004, got the better of him at the National Cup in February, while a back injury ruled the teenage out of the recent British Championships - again won by Waterfield.

Those who follow from a distance may have thought Daley's shooting star has already faded, but it is testament to Daley's will to win in London that he will not stay in his comfort zone.

And provided he tops the podium at London 2012, Daley is more than happy to endure a temporary slump in fortunes.

"Last year I had one of the lowest difficulty lists in the world and now I've got the equal highest. I've been working quite hard to learn these new dives," said Daley, who last week helped to launch Nestle's Get Set, Go Free campaign to encourage families to take part in sport.

"It's very hard to get my head around it as well as doing them, training them and perfecting them.

"There is one dive [front four-and-a-half somersault tuck] which I have only done eight times and it takes time to perfect them and be able to be comfortable doing them.

"I always want to win competitions whenever I go to them but you have to look at the bigger picture and that for me is being as best prepared as I can for the London 2012 Olympics.

"It's the one event that is always on my mind. I remember when the announcement was made and how excited I was about it."