Daley dedicates medal to his late father

An emotional Tom Daley dedicated his first Olympic medal to his late father Robert after a dramatic and controversial final of the men's 10-metre platform tonight.

Daley claimed bronze on a barely forgettable night that saw world champion Qiu Bo suffer a rare defeat.

While American David Boudia snatched gold from the Chinese, the swell of emotion inside the Aquatics Centre centred on home-favourite Daley.

The 18-year-old had led going into the final dive, with Boudia and Qiu deadlocked just 0.15 points behind.

Daley managed a single score of 10 for his final back dive, but when Boudia and then Qiu both nailed more difficult leaps he was relegated to third.

The Plymouth diver hardly cared though as he jumped into the pool, with his team-mates and coaches, to celebrate a success overwhelming for his family tragedy.

Daley was at the bedside of his father at their family home in Plymouth last May when he lost his long battle with brain cancer aged 40.

Robert Daley had been a constant at poolside during his son's career and had pledged to battle the disease for long enough to see him compete in London.

"I dedicate this medal one for my dad," he said.

"After losing my dad and all the tough times - it's about time my family had some good news.

"It's really tough not having him here, but I'm so happy for the fact that all the hard work we put in together, all the ups and downs, I know if he was here he'd be very proud.

"I wish he was here to be honest, but I know he's not. To make up for it all my family and friends are here.

"All the lessons in life he's taught me. It's been tough but I've come out the other side and have something to show for it.

"Although it's a bronze medal for me it's a gold medal.

"It's a symbol of all the effort I've had to put in. All the pressure that I've had on me going into this competition has been overwhelming to say the least."

The already hyped pressure on Daley, one of the poster boys for the London Olympics, reached new levels in the past week after he finished fourth in the platform synchro alongside Pete Waterfield.

Just hours after the event Daley was the subject of Twitter abuse relating to his father.

With the bitter taste of narrowly missing out on a medal Daley admitted he had been left deflated before a text from David Beckham.

Daley revealed the former England skipper, who watched on tonight in the crowd with his children, had calmed his nerves after speaking to him about handling outside pressure.

"It was just over text. After my synchro he wanted to wish me well and keep my chin up," he said.

"He's been speaking to me asking how I've been feeling over the last few days and generally given me advice.

"He was asking: 'What have you taken out of the synchro?'

"I said that I knew now what it was like diving in front of a home crowd ahead of the individual.

"He was asking me the right questions to make me think that actually it is not that bad to come away from the synchro without a medal."

Daley's third-placing came amid some controversy, however, after he was allowed to re-dive his opening effort after complaining about flash photography in the crowd.

Daley was granted the rare decision to climb back up the tower and he added 16.8 points to his initial score.

That looked like it might be the difference between gold when he led into the last dive but in the end his gap of 29.15 points to Russia's Victor Minibaev ensured it had no bearing on the result.

"When I was on the end of the board I thought they might stop flashing as I took off," he said.

"The flashes got more and I got disorientated as I hit the water.

"I approached the referee and I was thinking: 'The environment needs to be right. You can't be at a home disadvantage with all the photographers taking flash photos.

"I spoke to the referee and all the judges on that side of the pool said 'yes there was a significant amount of flashes' so he gave me the re-dive.

"I had to recompose myself."

Daley showed no signs of the early drama thereafter as he nervelessly fired off dives worth nine en route to a score of 556.95.

The teenager expected to be passed by Boudia and Qiu on his final dive, before revealing his thoughts on the board before his final effort.

"Basically I was telling myself s*** or bust," he said.

"All I can do is go out there and give it my best shot.

"I knew going into the last round that if I was on par with the others then they were going to overtake me because of the degree of difficulty that I had going into the last round.

"I was diving for a medal. When I landed in the water I felt like I could do a dolphin trick and leap out of the water. It was an incredible feeling after everything this year."