Rio 2016: Strangers ten months ago, Tom Daley and Dan Goodfellow secure bronze in dripping union

The frantic waving of Union Jacks telegraphed the answer almost as quick as electricity, cue the five-ringed embrace and ecstatic double plunge into the aqua

(Getty)

In the circumstances of their hasty alignment bronze represented something of a silver lining for Tom Daley and Dan Goodfellow, and should the Chinese ever have a day off, might even represent a golden opportunity somewhere over the rainbow.

The British pair were strangers ten months ago when Goodfellow accepted the 10 metre synchronised diving challenge and went all in with Daley, who, having not contested the event in 2015 had all-but written off his chances in Rio.

There must be something in the water, so to speak. World Cup bronze was followed by four World Series podiums and a European silver. In the half dozen competitions contested never have they failed to medal and now this.

For all our trumpeting and British cheerleading, there is nil doubt about the stars of this show. Watching these falling, spinning, somersaulting duplicates from China arrow through air and water you wonder if there is not some diabolic subterfuge at work, hatched from a secret cyber factory and coded for gold.

What discrepancies exist are engineered in to put us off the scent. So good were Aisen Chen and Yue Lin that, barring a catastrophic episode, it was clear that interest in this contest would centre on win silver and bronze.

And since the United States proved almost as robust in the colonisation of second, it became a wrestle for bronze. To the naked eye it is a job for the casual observer to measure performance. Only when the camera slows is it possible to reconcile the interpretation of the judges with what we see.

The divers came to the platform in late afternoon. The hills behind the Olympic Park had bled into the low cloud all day, leaving the open air arena blighted by a grey lid. Occasions such as these in locations as spectacular are made for sky blue days.

The sunshine would come with the result. The British pair held bronze position after the first dive and maintained it until the fourth when they briefly fell to fifth. It was always a matter of small margins with Germany and Mexico edging ahead.

The fifth dive saw them resume bronze spot and when they approached the board for their final time they knew the requirement, 84 points. A huge cheer greeted their appearance. “Go on, Tom,” yelled the hefty British contingent that always seems to populate the stands wherever British athletes compete.

In those moments before the dive a lifetime passes, or so it seems as the divers compose themselves. The signal is given, the arms initiative the movement, a spring on prone ankles then off they go, firing backwards through the ether. It looked good enough to the untrained gaze.

Tom Daley (left) and Daniel Goodfellow performing in the men's synchronised 10m platform final (PA)

If we were to be picky Daley seemed to arch the legs a little too much through entry. Enough to spoil the party? Not by the look of the German pair, who nodded what could only be viewed as approval from their privileged position by the boards.

Would this be the one time a British team prevailed on penalties in a tight match against the mighty Teutons? Daley and Goodfellow stood in dripping union, the former with an arm around his partner and a hand over his mouth while they waited the verdict. Never any doubt.

The frantic waving of Union Jacks telegraphed the answer almost as quick as electricity. Cue the five-ringed embrace and ecstatic double plunge into the aqua. Daley had his second Olympic bronze, and Goodfellow his Olympic dream realised.

Daley goes again in the 10 metre individual event, which on the form he showed here, presages more precious metal.