Diving: His second gold - and he's still only 17

MANCHESTER - Canadian Alexandre Despatie, a Commonwealth Games champion when he was only 13, feels the pressure a little more now, but he handled it superbly yesterday to win another diving gold medal.

Despatie, the youngest gold medallist in Games history when he won the 10m platform crown in Kuala Lumpur in 1998, faltered on the second dive of the six-dive men's one-metre springboard final, but held his nerve to bounce back for a resounding victory.

"I've been through a lot of different experiences in four years," the Montreal-born diver said last night.

"Four years ago I was a little bit innocent. I was just there to dive and do my thing. I didn't really know what was going on. Now I have gained some maturity.

"I see the competition in maybe a different way now. I used to really not care about what I did. I just dived.

"But since then, I became a figure for younger divers and for Canada. People expect results from me and it's a pressure I didn't have when I was younger. I need to learn to cope with that."

Despatie, who could make a clean sweep of all three men's diving titles in Manchester, said he wanted to have fun and do his best.

"I've had a couple of attitude problems in the past. I'm having a lot more fun than I used to. I'm not demanding so much of myself," he said.

"I'm 17. I've been diving for 12 years. I know I'll be diving until 2008. After that I'll see what I want to do. It's a lot of years, a lot of work. But I love diving, so I can't say I'm going to quit in six years."

He also said he was trying not to think about a treble bid.

"I'm not diving for the medals. If I get out of here with three medals I'll be very happy, but I'm not fixing on the medals.

"It's a good start. Tomorrow is another day."

England's Tony Ally, 29 next month, gave the Canadian teenager a run for his money and took a well-deserved silver medal, urged on by family, friends and home fans.

"The crowd works, not just for me but for everybody," said Ally, the 1999 European three-metre springboard champion.

"They like me, I like them. We work together as a team: public and athlete.

"I came to the Commonwealth Games to achieve a performance.

"I have been in the sport for a very long time and I am a perfectionist as a person and as an athlete."

At the final, son Jacob, 10, sported a t-shirt that proclaimed an encouraging "Go for it Dad."

- REUTERS

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