Daley set to make a splash in London after ditching hometown of Plymouth for Olympic Park reunion

PUBLISHED: 17:30 EST, 14 November 2013 | UPDATED: 17:44 EST, 14 November 2013

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Tom Daley is moving from his home town of Plymouth to London so that he can train in the Olympic Park, where he won his diving bronze medal last year.

The surprise relocation is expected to take place in time for when Stratford’s Aquatic Centre reopens next spring.

The charismatic Daley will be a significant boost for the pool after its closure since the Olympic Games.

Return to London: Tom Daley is moving from Plymouth to the capital to train at the Olympic Park

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Daley’s decision to go to London will also benefit his media and broadcasting ambitions, with his ITV primetime celebrity diving show Splash returning for a second series, but it will mean Daley changing his diving coach.

Plymouth-based Andy Banks guided Daley to an Olympic medal but is said to be coming to terms with losing his star pupil.

British Swimming are working with the diver and his advisors on finding a suitable replacement.

Daley leaving is a blow for Plymouth’s sporting status. The state-of-the-art diving facilities in the town’s £46million Life Centre Complex that opened in 2012 and the presence of Daley attracted some of Britain’s best young divers.

Daley’s former school, Plymouth College, offer courses that fit in with training schedules, and diving club head coach Banks said: ‘We’re seeing a brain drain into Plymouth.’

Now some of the youngsters might be tempted to follow Daley to London.

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The iconic triangular floodlights at the Olympic Stadium are coming down next week when work progresses on installing a new roof for the Stratford venue ahead of West Ham moving there in 2016 and the hosting of five 2015 Rugby World Cup games.

Removing the lights, which are expected to remain in some capacity within the Olympic Park, is due to start on Wednesday — two days after the House of Lords committee publish their report into Olympic and Paralympic Games legacy.

However the Lords committee can make only recommendations and have no statuary power to force yet more changes.

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All change: The Olympic Stadium's triangular floodlights are coming down so that a new roof can be built

Usain Bolt is a huge Manchester United fan. So it will cause some embarrassment to the Olympic and world champion sprinter that the one football shirt on sale in the merchandise store within his popular Tracks and Records sports bar in Kingston, Jamaica is a red Arsenal strip.

Error: Usain Bolt is a Manchester United fan but there are only Arsenal shirts available to buy in his sports bar in Kingston, Jamaica

The forensic focus on exact nutritional requirements doesn’t just stop with the England Test team, who have given Cricket Australia 82 pages of catering demands for the Ashes series.

On the same day, England’s 194 food requests were leaked to the Aussie media down under, there was a mini furore at the Loughborough national cricket centre when flapjacks were laid on for the hungry understudy England performance squad at the wrong meal time.

A BOOST FOR BARBARA

BBC Sport are noticeably giving coverage to women’s football across all their platforms that is vastly out of proportion to current spectator or viewer interest in the female game.

However at least the strategy from on high will show BBC Director of Sport Barbara Slater in a good light when she appears before the DCMS Select Committee next week looking at all aspects of women in sport including its media exposure.

It will be scant consolation for ITV after losing their flagship live Champions League coverage after next season, but they are expected to be awarded the Champions League highlights rights on Friday.

Small reward: ITV are expected to be awarded a Champions League highlights package after missing out on live games

Chelsea, who have needed high-powered legal advice on numerous issues on and off the pitch over the last few turbulent seasons, are advertising for an in-house lawyer for the first time.

The club say it makes financial sense to have a resident legal expert rather than having to out source the work all the time. This despite Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck being the founding managing partner of the London office of American law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom.

Manchester City v Spurs on November 24 has more at stake than just three points in the Premier League.

Rival football administrators, City’s Tom Glick and Tottenham’s Darren Eales, who were comparing early growths at yesterday’s Premier League summit, have a competition between them as to who can produce the most luxuriant Movember moustache ahead of the match.

Big moment: Football administrators Tom Glick of Manchester City and Darren Eales of Tottenham will compare moustaches when their sides meet on November 24

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usednurse, Scottish Borders United Kingdom, 6 days ago

Yes, we women want to see coverage of more women's sport on TV, but can we have coverage of the many sports women are actually good at please. Women's football just isn't good enough yet to justify the air time it's getting but I suppose, as football is the abiding preoccupation of broadcasters, it's inevitable we'd get this passed off as a greater interest in women's sport. Personally I'll be watching the men only, until standards in women's football reach around lower EPL level.