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Monday, August 25, 2008, 10:00
The 14-year-old from Plymouth was seventh in the final of the men's individual 10-metre platform event at the Water Cube – becoming Britain's highest-placed diver of the Games.
However, he was 62.25 points adrift of Russian bronze medallist Gleb Galperin and 74.4 behind champion Matthew Mitcham of Australia.
Tom was never expected to challenge for medals at these Games – and he admitted so himself – but in four years' time, hopes are high he will be one of the world's best in his chosen sport.
Between now and then, the schoolboy will find himself doing a lot of growing up and even more training as he seeks to add the most difficult dives to his repertoire, which will allow him to challenge the elite divers.
"I'm going to go back and work on getting some harder dives for 2012.
"My scores improved from the prelims to the semis to the final but there were still a few dives I could have done a lot better. But I know even if I did them better, the only place I would have come would have been fifth or sixth.
"I just need to go back and learn a few harder dives and then try to perfect them. Then, hopefully, it should all go to plan in the final in London."
Tom's experiences – good and bad – of his first Games will prove invaluable to his development over the next few years as he has seen at close hand what is required to win medals.
But first he returns to the less-glamorous surroundings of Eggbuckland Community College for the start of the new autumn term next month before heading off to the Junior World Championships in Aachen, Germany.
But Beijing will never be far from his mind: "I'm actually looking forward to going back to school – I can't believe I said that – but I just want to see my friends," he said.
"I have two days off when I get home and then I'm back into training because there is going to be a lot of pressure going to the junior worlds because everyone is my age.
"I'll feel more pressure going into that than I have done here because here I had nothing to lose as everyone was a senior and I'm a junior.
"I didn't even expect to qualify for the Olympics – then I didn't expect to qualify for the semi-finals and then the final. It has been a fantastic experience and I have gained so much from it.
"I can't wait to go home and work as hard as possible. If I do that, then London 2012 is possible for a British person to win."
Tom's seventh-place finish in the final qualifies him for diving's World Series events, taking him to Nanjing, Qatar, Mexico and Sheffield in the next year.
When he appears at Pond's Forge in South Yorkshire, he is likely to find an expectant crowd waiting to see Britain's next diving superstar.
However, Tom has had plenty of advice on how to handle his new-found super-stardom, which coach Andy Banks likened to that of Madonna after the youngster was trailed by cameramen from the minute he stepped off the plane in China.
Tom said: "I spoke to Victoria Pendleton (gold medal-winning cyclist) before the competition and she just said how it felt to be an Olympic champion.
"It is weird. When you are a kid, you see all these sports people on the TV and then when it happens to you, it doesn't seem real."
Andy Banks said: "He has shown the world what he is capable of and he has been very steady."
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Tom Daley dives in the men's 10-metre platform diving semi-finals in Beijing
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