Commonwealth Games: Brilliant Tom Daley dives to gold in 10m platform final
Last Updated: 02/08/14 11:45pm
England's Tom Daley successfully defended his Commonwealth Games title in the men's 10-metre platform final.
The 20-year-old from Plymouth won his third Commonwealth gold, after two in Delhi four years ago, with a score of 516.55 at Edinburgh's Royal Commonwealth Pool.
The margin of victory was a huge 82.85 as Malaysia's Ooi Tze Liang finished second on 433.70 and Canada's Vincent Riendeau was third with 429.25.
Matthew Mitcham of Australia, the 2008 Olympic champion and silver medallist behind Daley four years ago, could finish only fourth with 420.00.
Daley, whose win took England's tally from 10 events to 10 medals - four of them gold, said: "It was a lot better than this morning, I got into it a little bit quicker.
"The back twister was better, but still not as great as I wanted it to be. The front four and a half was not as good as it was this morning, but there are still lots of positives and I'm really happy to retain the title."
Daley did not quite conquer his "demon" dive, having mistimed it on Saturday morning, but it was a peerless performance.
Daley has had trouble when it comes to the 'twister' - a back two-and-a-half somersault with two-and-a-half twists - and scored just 37.80, after landing with quite a splash, in qualifying.
His recovery - two scores above 100 - saw him advance in first place, meaning he was to dive last of the 12 competitors in the final.
Daley had also been unhappy with his opening dive - an armstand back triple somersault - in the preliminaries, but in the final he delivered and was awarded 94.50 to take a clear first-round lead, while his rival Mitcham was a lowly eighth.
Twister
Then came the twister, which Daley produced en route to London 2012 Olympic bronze when a camera flash distracted him and he asked to re-perform the dive.
It has haunted him since and his performance was improved in the final, with 64.80 to see him remain top, ahead of Domonic Bedggood by 0.90.
Daley enhanced his halfway advantage to 26 points with 81.60 for his inward three-and-a-half somersault.
A 79.55 for his forward four-and-a-half somersault scored 79.55 as his lead over the field extended to 29.25 with two dives to go.
Daley's penultimate dive was a back three-and-a-half somersault and a score of 102.60 saw him take a commanding 64.20-point lead into the final round.
His final dive was a reverse three-and-a-half somersault and a medal was already confirmed, with Daley in third.
He scored 93.50 to secure an emphatic victory.
James Denny, who won synchronised silver alongside Daley on Friday night, was sixth with a total of 397.65.
Hannah Starling earlier claimed bronze in the women's three-metres springboard.