OLYMPICS LONDON 2012: Daley seals bronze with superb final performance

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By Sean-Paul Doran, Sportsbeat, London 2012

GREAT Britain's Tom Daley produced a fantastic display of diving at the Aquatics Centre to claim a dramatic bronze medal in the 10 metres platform final.

BRONZE: Tom Daley sealed third place in a superb atmosphere at the Aquatics Centre after a re-dive

Daley, who finished seventh in Beijing, finished with a total score of 556.95 to send the home crowd into raptures and secure third place as USA's David Boudia took gold.

The Brit booked his place in the final as an impressive semi-final display saw him finish fourth and dispel the doubts caused by his below-par preliminary round performance.

But 18-year-old Daley started the final is controversial circumstances as he asked for a re-dive after claiming that the flash photography put him off his first dive.

And after his request was granted, the 2011 World Championship gold medallist scored an impressive 91.80 for a dive of 3.6 difficulty to begin the evening in third place and in fine form.

Daley's next two dives were clean but the heavily-tipped Chinese pair of Qiu Bo and Lin Yue began to find their feet as they pushed the Brit into fourth place with 270.95.

A superb fourth dive saw Daley post the best score of his London 2012 campaign with 98.05 to take him into third place with two dives left - much to the delight of David Beckham and the rest of the Aquatics Centre crowd.

The teenager from Plymouth took 97.20 after another fantastic effort in his penultimate dive to set up a tense end as Daley grabbed the lead with 466.20 going into the final dive ahead of Boudia and the Chinese pair.

Daley earned 90.75 in his final dive to send the home crowd into raptures and after a nervous wait for the final three divers, Daley's superb third-place finish was confirmed.

© Sportsbeat 2012