RIO DE JANEIRO -- Four years ago Tom Daley wanted to walk away from diving.I couldnt see past 2012 -- that was it, that was everything I had been gearing up towards, Britains Daley told a press conference on Thursday.It was London 2012, London 2012, and it got to the point where it came and went, and suddenly you are thinking What happens next? I never wanted to step up on a diving board again.One of the poster boys of the previous Olympics in his home country, where he won bronze in the individual 10m competition, he had become tired of the sport that had taken him to two Games and instead he wanted to escape from its rigours.But here he was standing, grinning as he talked to the media in the Maria Lenk Aquatics Centre in the Olympic Park. It was a hubbub of activity behind him with divers of all nationalities going off the different height boards while various synchronised swimmers went through routines in the water to an orchestral version of Smooth Criminal.Daley, now 22, looked at home; his excitement was palpable ahead of his first dive on Monday. For British interests in the Games as he looks for medals in the mens synchronized 10m platform and then individual 10m platform, he is right up there but pressure is no longer a problem.He now embraces it and channels it to help guide his teammates while finding an inner peace coupled with a ruthless focus. This was not the case after London 2012.He looked outside of diving for a release -- January 2013 saw the broadcasting of his television show Splash! in the United Kingdom -- but he needed a complete break and the tricep injury sustained in the 2013 Barcelona FINA World Championships gave him the necessary excuse to get away from the sport.?He was given the summer off; he went travelling, enjoyed being a teenager and came back refocused on his sport. He had learned to embrace life outside of diving rather than push it back for fear of it being a distraction.December 2013 saw him announce his relationship with his now-fiancé, the Oscar-winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black, and by the New Year he had moved from Plymouth into an apartment overlooking Londons Olympic Park.He also changed coach to Zimbabwe-born Jane Figueiredo, bidding an emotional farewell to Andy Banks who had coached him from eight years old, and since Sept. 2014 hes been teetotal.The swap to Figueiredo was a masterstroke as she saw that to keep Daleys active mind focused on diving, they needed to bring in new training methods.Ive been doing all sorts, Daley said. Any type of exercise you can imagine Ive been doing it.Jane wants me to do kick-boxing. I do ballet, I do spin classes. We do weight training, gymnastics, trampolining, pilates, yoga, plyometrics stuff. Anything you can imagine weve tried, because we want to make sure were athletes for not just in the diving pool.He also listens to hypnosis tapes for 10 minutes every morning via an app, and has started Spanish lessons. His teammates have noticed a change -- Tonia Couch, who was in the Team GB squad alongside Daley in Beijing and London, said: I wouldnt even look at him and think there was pressure on him. Hes so cool. Hes diving amazingly and its the best Ive seen him.British divings performance director Alexei Evanguluv, who was previously critical in 2012 of Daleys commercial interests, feels the same.Hes become such a professional athlete in comparison with the last quadrennial, said Evanguluv. He was a young boy; he was more excited rather than professional and focusing. He is readier now than he has ever been before.Come Monday, Daleys third Olympics will get underway. When he stands on the 10m platform for his synchronized dive alongside his flatmate Dan Goodfellow, hell be in a good place.Going into Beijing I was 14-years-old. I guess I didnt really know ... I knew what the Olympics were, obviously, but I went into it thinking, Ah, its another competition. A 14-year-old doesnt really think about the scale of things and whos watching and how big it is.Going into 2012 there was a lot of pressure with it being a home Games. I had a lot more difficult dives, there was a lot going on and I had to deal with lots of things.Then going into this Olympic Games I feel Im at my most consistent, my most ready, physically, psychologically, everything.He heads into the Games encouraged by the gold medals he won at the 2015 World Championships in the team event and the double haul at this years European Championships.In the stands watching him here in Rio will be his mother, his two brothers, his fiancé and grandparents. And looking down on him will be his late father Rob. Hell be going for gold for all of them.It was always our dream to win an Olympic gold medal and to do it for my dad would be absolutely amazing. Its not just me standing up on that board, its everyone around me: coaches, friends, family, support staff, everyone that gets you to that point.Im ready to go there, put up a fight against those Chinese divers to try to take away the gold medal. Nike Dunk High Mens . U.S. District Judge Lorna G. Schofield in Manhattan agreed that lawyers on both sides could make their formal requests by Nov. 8. A hearing is scheduled for a day earlier. Jordan Siev, a lawyer for Rodriguez, wrote in a joint letter to the judge from lawyers on both sides that MLB lawyers planned to ask that the lawsuit be dismissed. 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"We talked about wanting to be disciplined and stick with our game plan and good things will come," Draisaitl said, who had two goals for the victors. While most of the golfing world prepares for the return of the sport to the Olympics for the first time in 112 years, a fierce battle is set to be waged beginning Thursday at the $4.8 million John Deere Classic at TPC Deere Run in Silvis, Ill.With only two events remaining before the start of the FedExCup playoffs at The Barclays Aug. 25-28, the John Deere Classic provides a pivotal opportunity for those hanging around the bubble for the top 125 players to qualify. All but two players ranked from Nos. 120-135 will be in the field this week.Other notables include 2012 winner Zach Johnson, who has done no worse than tie for third at the event every year since 2011, three-time event champion Steve Sticker (2009-11) and former top-ranked amateur Jon Rahm, who makes his sixth career professional start as he seeks to earn his PGA Tour card for next season.Johnson is from an hour away in Iowa City, Iowa, and will make his 15th consecutive start at what he considers a home event. The JDC has typically been played in July, but was moved to August this year due to the jumbled schedule created by the Olympics and the Ryder Cup.Im excited for the week, Johnson said. I mean, its just a little bizarre its this week rather than July, but thats a whole nother subject. Its never a bad time to be in the Quad Cities.The top four players in the world opted not to play in the Olympics, which included third-ranked Jordan Spieth, who is also the defending JDC champion and a two-time winner of the event. In announcing he would skip the Rio Games, Spieth also said he would not defend his title in Iowa.I dont think it would be an appropriate move to play that week, Spieth said last month.That leaves the door of opportunity open for the 152-player field, headed by Johnson, who enters as the 22nd-ranked player in the world, followed by Kevin Na (No. 34).There are a lot of factors probably involved, Johnson said when asked about his success at the JDC. Im certainly comfortable with golf course. Im certainly comfortable with these greens and the bentgrass. Im certainly experienced here.With that comes confidence, I think. Oftentimes confidence, like Ive said, can breed momentum. It can just carry over week to week, month to month, year to year.With eight of the top 100 players in the field, it also leaves plenty of room for those hovering around the FedExCup bubble to earn critical points with next weeks Wyndham Championship serving as the final pre-playoff event.dddddddddddd do think its a little unfortunate that its the first week of the Olympics, Johnson said. You can look at it a number of different ways. There are only two weeks left before the playoffs start. There are only so many weeks left of Ryder Cup points. There are a lot of things at stake, so guys want to play and get some points here and there. There are incentives there.That includes Camilo Villegas and Brendon de Jonge, who skipped an opportunity to play in the Olympics so they could attempt to pick up FedExCup points in Illinois. Villegas enters the week No. 146, while de Jonge is No. 150, making this a critical tournament for both players. The current line for The Barclays sits with Johnson Wagner, who sits precariously in the 125th spot with 405 points. Wagner finished in a tie for fifth in this even last year.Rahm could throw another wrinkle into the equation with a victory this week. Playing on Special Temporary Members status, Rahm is not eligible for the FedExCup playoffs unless he wins an event. He already has 424 non-member points, and the former Arizona State star has a tie for third at the Quicken Loans International and a solo third at the Canadian Open among his first six professional starts.I dont think you ever achieve perfection in this game, Rahm said when asked if hes a perfectionist. The closest weve had to perfection weve had is Tiger, and we all know he was looking for it every single day.Im more of a feel player. Whatever I feel that day is what I do.Not only are there 500 FedExCup points on the line, but a $864,000 winners share. Spieth beat Tom Gillis in a playoff after the two tied at 20-under in regulation last year, so there are birdies to be had, and Johnson doesnt expect the course to play much different just because the tournament is a few weeks later this year.My guess is wont be a whole lot different, he said. I mean, I grew up in this area. July and August seem to be one month out here. Its hot, humid.If it was down South there is summer and really hot summer. Up here its different. Im assuming its not going to be a whole lot different. ' ' '