God loves a trier. And best of all, Britain – perennial underachievers, the lot of us – loves someone who chokes on the big stage. In the run up to last year’s Olympics, Tom Daley was the toast of the nation. The spry and media-friendly diver was going to be our big medal hope: young and bright, he was bound to win gold.
Except that actually he’s not all that great a diver. Don’t get me wrong, he’s one of the best in the world, but he’s not the best. Which is a shame, because his attempts for the gold medal got hyped out of all proportion and when he ended up with a bronze there was a collective disappointment.