London 2012 - Coach: Daley the new Kournikova

Fri, 24 Feb 10:38:00 2012

Britain's top diving coach has launched a devastating verbal attack on Tom Daley, accusing the former world champion of being the Anna Kournikova of diving.

Tom Daley - London - 2012 - 0

Daley flopped - literally - to a disappointing seventh place in the World Cup 10m synchronised platform event at the Olympic Aquatics Centre in London, one of the test events for this summer's Games.

And British Diving's performance director Alexei Evangulov laid into his star performer, blaming his increasingly high profile for distracting him from training: "It reminds me of the situation in Russia with Anna Kournikova. She looked pretty and made a promising start but the media exposure meant she never got to be the best."

It is not the first time that Evangulov has criticised Daley publicly, and the Russian was clearly stung by those who were critical of him for speaking his mind in the past.

"Maybe now people will trust me because I'm an expert," he said. "When I said the Chinese train three times harder than Tom, a million people have been saying 'Alexei, you're a liar' - but now you can see.

"I wasn't upset when people had a go at me, it's a normal reaction because Tom is a real star, like a pop star.

"But the difference between me and the other people who love him is that I am an expert. We can win but I know how to do it. They don't.

"I am angry because nobody will listen to me. If he stopped all his media work now, I might be able to get him up to the third best diver in the world.

"I don't mind what he does if he gets the medal. He can become a rock star then."

Britain's top diving coach has launched a devastating verbal attack on Tom Daley, accusing him of being the Anna Kournikova of diving. - 2 For his part, Daley blamed the poor showing on one terrible dive of the six he performed alongside partner Pete Waterfield, a forward four-and-a-half somersault that ended with Daley hitting the water at an appalling crooked angle:

"It was just one dive that we missed and that's what happens in a sport like diving," he said. "That was the difference between winning a medal and not."

Waterfield defended his diving partner, and claimed that the fault lies with the reporting of his sport: "We didn't miss a dive because Tom has been doing too much media. We missed a dive because we've had setbacks with injuries. It's you guys (in the media) who are saying it's all about the media. You keep bringing it up."

Eurosport

Comment 225 - 244 of 244

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  1. he's a whoopsie woofter

    From emma, on Mon 27 Feb 0:22

  2. He behaves like a spoilt teenage girl.

    From Tom, on Sun 26 Feb 4:03

  3. he's a @#$%, look at him.

    From emma, on Sat 25 Feb 23:46

  4. that's how to boost the lads confidence, compare­ him to some hot blonde chick!

    From JLC, on Sat 25 Feb 23:42

  5. lets not forget the lads father passed away not too­ long ago who went everywhere with him which has bound­ to have affected him and he has been hindured by injury­ too give him a break as for calling him a­ poofter......grow up!!!!!

    From Andrew, on Sat 25 Feb 23:32

  6. anna might not have been a great player but what a­ beauty. if she had been english she would have been­ british number 1.. lol

    From emma, on Sat 25 Feb 22:30

  7. poofter

    From emma, on Sat 25 Feb 22:23

  8. but anna looked good? this kid just looks like a little­ @#$%

    From emma, on Sat 25 Feb 22:10

  9. At that age its very hard to deal with your sexuality.­ It just becomes harder to hide. That's distracting­ him! Poor thing! All that pressure.

    From R, on Sat 25 Feb 19:22

  10. Its diving, who cares? Tennis, now theres a sport..

    From Machiavelli, on Sat 25 Feb 19:18

  11. Unfortunately Tom peaked at 15 all that's left to­ him now will be an awful top 40 record release, a­ 'brief' spell advertising speedos then back to­ the council estate and obscurity.

    From snaphappy, on Sat 25 Feb 19:10

  12. Give the lad a brake it takes less than 3 seconds to­ hit the water from take-off in that time they are­ trying to put 3 ½ somersaults and often as many twists­ course there will be times when the timing is out he is­ going to be mad at himself Sebastian Vettel or Lewis­ Hamilton miss times a corner its ok he can make that up­ over the next 60 laps

    From p, on Sat 25 Feb 19:01

  13. Daley is invested in with his sponsership money by the­ people in this country. He needs to deliver the goods ­ If he'd never been in the public eye through his­ diving he would be a nobody. The're saying­ It's because he lost his dad, I beleive that not­ because he's greiving, because if you watch his­ antics on the videos, he isn't, but his dad was the­ driving force behind him. He needs to stop messing­ about, and get on with the job in hand, He's also­ distracting others in the team, so the end result could­ spell disaster for other athletes.

    From A Yahoo! user, on Sat 25 Feb 18:52

  14. I have some sympathy with Alexei Evangulov ... sure he­ trains but the standard that he set are hard to­ replicate without the professionals. You don't­ become a flop overnight so persevere and deliver the­ "goods"

    From KENNETH, on Sat 25 Feb 18:17

  15. Never heard such a load of rubbish in my life­ 'he's a toff' ????? what a load of tripe­ how many people know that much about the lad how hard­ he has worked , how close he was to his Father and how­ ill he had been before he died . Give the lad a break­ Dont suppose many of the idiots amking comments can­ even swim let alone jump of a diving board. !!!

    From s.waddington719, on Sat 25 Feb 17:56

  16. Kournukova was a useless tennis player who was­ interested in sex than tennis that is why she retired­ at a very young ages to do adult stuff. it is an insult­ for Daley's coach to make such a comparison

    From Homer, on Sat 25 Feb 17:45

  17. Looks like the sort of doode that Miss Sharapova would­ not let carry her tennis gear on court.

    From Ian, on Sat 25 Feb 16:59

  18. Tom if you are reading this "you shouldnt be"­ you should be training!
    Think of your family and what­ they sacrificed to get you there then double your­ efforts and remember if you come second in a fight you­ have had a hiding

    From Allan, on Sat 25 Feb 16:56

  19. leave the lad alone, he's already done more than­ most in this country

    From Terence, on Sat 25 Feb 16:47

  20. As his coach said ....he can become a Rock Star After­ the Event.. Problem is..... No Gold.... No Pop Star­ with an almighty Splash down into reality...your choice­ Boy.

    From ajm783, on Sat 25 Feb 16:33
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