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Search forCroydon friends react to diver Blake Aldridge's Olympic disappointment
Saturday, August 16, 2008, 07:00
The Advertiser picture shows the 26-year-old as a youngster on the road to his Olympic dream.
Aldridge, who attended the former Stanley Technical High School, in South Norwood Hill, South Norwood, was competing in the 10-metre synchronised diving in Beijing.
But he and 14-year-old Tom Daley finished last after a disappointing set of dives on Monday.
It was later revealed the duo were involved in a spat before their final dive, after Aldridge phoned his mum during the competition.
Aldridge said: "He had a pop at me before the last dive.
"I saw my mum in the audience and asked her to call me, then Tom said: 'Why are you on the phone? We're still in the competition and we've got another dive to do'.
"That's just Thomas – he's over-nervous. He shouldn't be worrying about what I'm doing, but he was worrying – and that to me is the sole reason why he didn't perform."
Old friend Seb Mazzotta, 29, trained with Aldridge when the future Olympian was just eight.
They were part of Crystal Palace Diving Club and trained at the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre.
Mr Mazzotta said Aldridge may have reacted badly because of the hard work he had put into reaching his dream.
"He's a 26-year-old man and he shouldn't really have a strop at a 14-year-old if that's what he's really done," he said.
"But it's probably Blake's last chance at the Olympics. He's taken 18 years trying to get there and he's relying on somebody else to help him. It's a synchronised event.
"He was like Tom Daley when I knew him and the diving coaches bent over backwards to help him.
"He had huge potential and he stuck with diving. Credit to him that he achieved his dream and went to the Olympics.
"I saw him at Bud World (now Walkabout in Crown Hill) when he was 19.
"I was glass collecting and he was quite shy. He didn't look any different then, but now he has grown into a man."
On his homepage on social networking site Facebook, Aldridge hit back at the media criticism of him.
His profile picture shows himself and Tom Daley side by side and his status reads: "Blake is loving the way the media twists things around to make a good story. There is no blame on me or Tom.
"We're a team. We win together and fall together."
The 10-metre synchronised diving event was won by Chinese pair Yue Lin and Liang Huo.
YOUNG TALENT: Blake Aldridge aged 15 after he won medals at the European Diving Championships
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