Regretful Aldridge ponders the errors of his Beijing bust-up

IN the bowels of every major sports stadium, tucked from the gaze of spectators and television viewers, you will find an area known as a mixed zone.

UNCERTAIN FUTURE: Blake Aldridge will not compete in this weekend’s Fina World Series in Sheffield (Getty Images)

Dictaphones, cameras, sweaty bodies and huge egos come together in a swirling maelstrom of bad odour and bad tempers.

Penned behind barriers, the story hungry media lie in wait for their prey – sweat-drenched, out of breath athletes departing the arena.

The majority trudge through and utter their clichéd post-competition thoughts on auto-pilot – one British swimmer was able to use one expression – ‘it’s a learning curve’ – eight times in the course of one 74-second interview.

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Some beam in delight at their performance – but the chances of getting them to say anything more profound than ‘I can’t believe it’ are slim.

Others get angry and before engaging brain, get carried away by the emotion of the moment and give every journalist their own version of Olympic gold – a cracking set of quotes.

And no-one did that better than Blake Aldridge.

In the build-up to last year’s Olympics, Aldridge often looked like the insignificant other to his synchro diving partner Tom Daley.

Not since Eddie ‘The Eagle’ Edwards had one member of the British Olympic team got such international media attention and unlike the bespectacled ski jumper, Daley had talent to back up the hype.

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For editors who demand human interest stories and personalities, Daley had the lot – a healthy tan, bright white teeth and a natural charm that belied his tender years. He was also only 14, so he had youth on his side as well.

After finishing eighth in their Olympic 10m synchro final, despite arriving in Beijing ranked third in the world, Aldridge and Daley entered the braying bear pit that was the Water Cube’s mixed zone.

First they came to the BBC. Aldridge stood alongside Daley looking peeved as his young partner got all the questions.

Then came the Chinese broadcaster CCTV – Aldridge could have sloped off and they wouldn’t have noticed.

This continued for nearly an hour. The gold medallists had long departed the waiting media before Daley and Aldridge reached the written press, not so patiently waiting their turn at the end of a very long line.

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By this time it was clear Aldridge was a man on the edge, you could almost see the rage swelling up inside him, waiting to be vented at the first opportunity.

Daley was grinning, laughing and holding court, Aldridge was silently fuming, his partner still had an individual event to come but his Olympics were over.

It would only take one well-aimed question to make him pop and that question was incoming.

So as Daley talked to one group, Aldridge was targeted by another, in a classic pincer moment devised in the best traditions of divide and rule.

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