TEENAGE diving sensation Tom Daley is already targeting gold

at the London 2012 Olympics, having been given an insight into

what he needs to do to become one of the sport's greats.

The 14-year-old from Plymouth was seventh in the final of

the men's individual 10-metre platform event at the Water Cube

– becoming Britain's highest-placed diver of the Games.

However, he was 62.25 points adrift of Russian bronze

medallist Gleb Galperin and 74.4 behind champion Matthew

Mitcham of Australia.

Tom was never expected to challenge for medals at these

Games – and he admitted so himself – but in four years' time,

hopes are high he will be one of the world's best in his chosen

sport.

Between now and then, the schoolboy will find himself doing

a lot of growing up and even more training as he seeks to add

the most difficult dives to his repertoire, which will allow

him to challenge the elite divers.

"I'm going to go back and work on getting some harder dives

for 2012.

"My scores improved from the prelims to the semis to the

final but there were still a few dives I could have done a lot

better. But I know even if I did them better, the only place I

would have come would have been fifth or sixth.

"I just need to go back and learn a few harder dives and

then try to perfect them. Then, hopefully, it should all go to

plan in the final in London."

Tom's experiences – good and bad – of his first Games will

prove invaluable to his development over the next few years as

he has seen at close hand what is required to win medals.

But first he returns to the less-glamorous surroundings of

Eggbuckland Community College for the start of the new autumn

term next month before heading off to the Junior World

Championships in Aachen, Germany.

But Beijing will never be far from his mind: "I'm actually

looking forward to going back to school – I can't believe I

said that – but I just want to see my friends," he said.

"I have two days off when I get home and then I'm back into

training because there is going to be a lot of pressure going

to the junior worlds because everyone is my age.

"I'll feel more pressure going into that than I have done

here because here I had nothing to lose as everyone was a

senior and I'm a junior.

"I didn't even expect to qualify for the Olympics – then I

didn't expect to qualify for the semi-finals and then the

final. It has been a fantastic experience and I have gained so

much from it.

"I can't wait to go home and work as hard as possible. If I

do that, then London 2012 is possible for a British person to

win."

Tom's seventh-place finish in the final qualifies him for

diving's World Series events, taking him to Nanjing, Qatar,

Mexico and Sheffield in the next year.

When he appears at Pond's Forge in South Yorkshire, he is

likely to find an expectant crowd waiting to see Britain's next

diving superstar.

However, Tom has had plenty of advice on how to handle his

new-found super-stardom, which coach Andy Banks likened to that

of Madonna after the youngster was trailed by cameramen from

the minute he stepped off the plane in China.

Tom said: "I spoke to Victoria Pendleton (gold medal-winning

cyclist) before the competition and she just said how it felt

to be an Olympic champion.

"It is weird. When you are a kid, you see all these sports

people on the TV and then when it happens to you, it doesn't

seem real."

Andy Banks said: "He has shown the world what he is capable

of and he has been very steady."