PM Brown sees that primetime Daley is diving into seventh heaven

Brown, in town for the formal passing of the Olympic torch to London this evening, watched Daley conclude his Olympic adventure as the seventh best diver in the world.

Flying high: Tom Daley has made his mark on the 10-metre diving final

Just 14, Daley ceased on this night to be viewed any longer as a child prodigy. He passed into athletic manhood in front of the Prime Minister's eyes.

Daley has been a phenomenon at these Games and the Prime Minister is simply the latest to be drawn by the magnetism of his youthful exuberance.

'Since we arrived, Tom's been chased around the place like Madonna,' said Andy Banks, a Team GB coach who trains Daley near his home in Plymouth. 'I guess he's got another four years of being Madonna ahead of him.'

In all probability. Daley's bewildering maturity, ranged against men as much as 15 years older than him, enabled him to grasp at once the importance of Australian Matthew Mitcham's brilliance in stealing the gold medal from China's Zhou Luxin with his last dive of the competition. Mitcham's bold, thrilling execution from the 10m platform meant that China's stranglehold on Olympic diving had at last been broken after the hosts had taken the seven previous golds on offer.

'I'm just so glad a non-Chinese won,' said Daley. 'It breaks the mind barrier that the Chinese are unbeatable. It's like the four-minute mile. Once one person did it, lots of people did it afterwards.

'I know if I go home and work as hard as I can that it is possible for a British person to win London 2012. I need to learn some harder dives, and then perfect them.'

Someone should check his birth certificate. For in this age when politicians like Brown bemoan the obesity of our children, and fear for their lack of exercise, Daley is a gift from the Year Nine classroom. Last night on his iPod he played dance music to get him in the mood to dive - 'I was listening to Base Hunter and Room Five,' he explained to a confused middle-aged audience.

And he admitted that after three weeks of interacting with stars like new tennis world No1 Rafael Nadal, and being persistently asked for his autograph, he relishes going back to the classroom.

Daley, dressed proudly in the Olympic tracksuit of the British team, smiled: 'I'm looking forward to going back to school - I can't believe I just said that - but the truth is I want to see all my friends.' It will be the briefest of reunions, however. On September 12, he will compete at the Junior World Championships.

'I expect I will feel a lot more pressure there as everyone will be nearer my own age,' said Daley. 'At these Olympics I had nothing to lose.'

Steep learning curve: Daley has learned his lesson.

That is not entirely true. After his qualification for these Games, as European champion no less, Daley could have been submerged under a tidal wave of expectation.

Indeed, his entrance into Olympic competition 12 days ago was far from smooth as Blake Aldridge, his partner in the 10m synchronised competition, disloyally blamed Daley for their disappointing result. The youngster could have been damaged by the fallout but is clearly unscathed.

All Banks's objectives for Daley have been met - or surpassed.

'For Tom to end up seventh in the world is just brilliant,' said Banks. 'He has exceeded our expectations.

'We had three targets for him. One, for him to be happy and proud of his performance. He's done that. Two, to learn from the Olympics. He leaves here knowing he could write a book. Three, we wanted him to have fun. He's done that all right!'

Daley, offering that cherubic smile that has won the hearts and minds of the Chinese people, said: 'I've loved every second and it was pretty cool to find out the Prime Minister had been here.'

Rob and Debbie Daley, his parents, unfurled an outsized Union flag as they proudly watched the oldest of their three sons enter the arena reserved for the world's elite athletes as the second youngest competitor in British Olympic history.

Tom Daley has truly begun his journey to London 2012 in memorable style.