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.

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.

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.

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.

By Paul Smith, , London 2012

TOM Daley hopes his performance in winning an Olympic diving bronze medal in London will inspire British youngsters to take up the sport.

Daley wants Team GB to have the pick of the best young diving talent in the country by the time he goes in search of gold at Rio 2016.

The 18-year-old picked up only Britain’s seventh medal ever in Olympic diving at the Aquatics Centre, diving consistently well and finishing with a score of 556.95 points.

INSPIRATION: Tom Daley is hoping his bronze medal at the London 2012 Olympics will inspire a new generation of divers

American David Boudia claimed gold, with hot favourite Qiu Bo, China’s world champion, having to settle for silver.

Daley was roared on by a passionate crowd of 17,500, with millions more watching on TV. And he hopes his performance will have a lasting impact.

“The whole experience of London 2012 has been amazing,” said Daley.

“The British public have really embraced the Olympic Games and I really hope everyone does take something from the Games.

“Hopefully I have created some opportunities for people who want to take up diving.

“They may never have seen it on TV before but now want to give it a go, and hopefully in a few years time we will have lots of divers to choose for the future.”

Lloyds TSB, proud supporter of Team GB and proud partner of the London 2012 Olympic Games. Get closer to the Games at lloydstsb.com/london2012.

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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.

GREAT Britain diver Tom Daley was satisfied after qualifying into the final of the 10 metres platform at the London 2012 Olympic Games.

After sneaking into the semi-finals, qulafying in 15th place from 18 divers, the 18-year-old progressed to the final in fourth place.

And Daley put this down to the tight, changeable nature of diving, and insisted that any medal in the individual event is a huge success.

READY: Tom Daley will be relaxed and ready to make his assualt on the gold medal after qualifying

“That’s diving for you – anything can happen,” said Daley.

“David Boudia, from the USA, and I both qualified near the bottom for the preliminaries, but we are near the top of the table. The Chinese have been very consistent, though.

“It is sad to see Matthew Mitcham go out. I am not just diving for a bronze medal – bronze is almost gold as the standard of diving is so high.”

Daley admits he is aware of the improvements he needs to make if he is to medal or better his seventh place from Beijing 2008.

But he intends to relax as he prepares for the biggest night of his career to date.

He said: “There are a lot of things that I know I can do better – for example the back twist and arm stand, so I hope to improve my score even further.

“I will go back, take a nap, chill, have lunch and write my diary about what happened in the semi-final.”