Athlete of the Year – Vote for Tom Daley

And it was this season that his hard work came to fruition; he started of his medal streak with gold at the British Championships in February before heading off for international competition on the World Series circuit.

The highlight of the six legs came in the London leg when Daley won the 10m Platform in front of a home crowd and on his home boards.

Daley’s last World Championship medal was the gold he won in 2009 and he went into Kazan hungry for success. He took part in the inaugural Mixed Team Event with Rebecca Gallantree and impressed with four tens on his Armstand dive as the pair secured gold.

He returned to individual action in the 10m Platform final on the last day of diving action and found himself in joint third place going into the last round of dives. He knew he had to score well on his Back 3 ½ Somersaults piked to secure the bronze.

He scored nines to take his second medal of the competition and an Olympic quota place for Great Britain.

He commented: “I'm really happy with that bronze because I did make it as hard as possible for myself with that second dive," said Daley.

"It came down to the last dive when we were on the same score but I quite like that competition pressure - I find it fun. I said to Jane [Figueiredo, coach] before the last dive that this is what I like and this is the fun bit for me. I just knew whatever he did; I'd have to do it better.

"There was a lot more I could have done points-wise. Five more points on inward, 30 more points on twist and I could have scored another 10 on front. I think because the twister is so new and it's such a hard dive to do, it's just about getting used to doing it in competition and channelling that energy.

"It's interesting to see the same three people on the podium as at London 2012. It looks like we've still got it and we just need to shuffle around for next year and hopefully I can end up on top!"