I have always considered sport to be something that should be fun. I believe you play to win - you certainly do not play to lose in to any sport. I am a strong believer also in the spirit of the game. You should not want to win at all costs, and at the expense of someone else. You should want to win because you believe you are the best at it.
When you are a part of a team, it is the team spirit that must play a huge part in your sport. You not only do things for yourself, but for the good of the team. Let us hope this is the standard for all the athletes in our 2012 London Olympics.
I was so sad to see our diving team fall apart at the Beijing Olympics. How could this happen? Was this a case of - I want to win at all costs? Was it a case of, if I make you look bad, I look good? I have heard it said that the only reason things were said was because of the emotion and the heat of the moment. It does not matter what the reason was. Things were said, and Blake Aldridge blamed his partner 14 year old Tom Daley because they lost.
There are a lot of people at fault here and they should stand up and take responsibility - the team manager, the team captain, the coach and the other team members. I think it is too easy to step back when things go wrong and blame someone else. In business, a great manager takes responsibility when one of his staff members makes a mistake. He fixes the problem with the person at fault - but he stands up and accepts the responsibility. Blake Aldridge - you were older. You should have stood up and been counted along with the rest.
One thing I am absolutely sure of, even though I was not there, or in Tom’s head at the time, he certainly did not get up on the diving board and say I am going to dive badly to show you up. I am also absolutely certain he dived as best he could. He might in hindsight know he could have done it differently - but at that moment it was his best.
I really hope this does not dent his confidence. Think about it, he must be one of the very best 14 year old divers in the world and that is remarkable. Roll on 2012 London Olympics - Tom, show them how good you really are and win the gold. Roll on team spirit and work as a team. All take responsibility for the good and the bad.
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