OLYMPICS LONDON 2012: Daley claims no need to panic after stuttering in qualifying

Posted: Saturday 11th August 2012 | 0:00

By Ben Baker, Sportsbeat, London 2012

TOM Daley insisted there was no need to panic as he sneaked into the semi-final of the 10m platform diving at the London 2012 Olympics.

SO CLOSE: Great Britain's Tom Daley was relieved to make the semi-finals of the 10m platform diving at the London 2012 Olympics

Daley, 18, who finished seventh in Beijing, took his place among the 32-man field which featured synchronised partner and four-time Olympian Peter Waterfield, who was eliminated as he finished in 23rd place.

All 32 divers produced six dives and the 18 divers with the highest cumulative score advanced to Saturday’s semi-finals - and Daley only progressed in 15th.

“That was far too close for my liking I can tell you that,” said Daley.

“It was a tough competition for many reasons. I don’t normally compete at that time of night for one and then the second was the fact that there were 32 competitors in it which meant having to wait half an hour between dives.

“Towards the end of it my legs were starting to shake and I was feeling tired and it was one of those things where I just wanted it to be over.

“But I have done my job because I have made it into the semi-final, it might not have been the most comfortable of margins but the semi-final is a new day.

“A final environment is completely atmosphere because you are not sitting around waiting and you know that it counts because although the preliminaries count they don’t towards your final score.”

While Daley would have felt relief at squeezing through, he would have perhaps have watched on with fear as favourite Qui Bo of China finished top of the pile with a phenomenal points tally of 563.70.

But rather than focus on who did well, Daley is quick to point out that he wasn’t the only one to struggle.

“For me you can never know what will happen in an Olympic Games,” he added.

“David Boudia only just qualified in 18th and he won a silver medal at the World Championships last year, you have Victor Minibaev who came second in the World Cup this year and he is down in the pack too.

“So that is what makes the Olympics such a tough competition because you have to go three rounds to make the final and anything can happen.”