London 2012: Tom Daley dreams of gold after selection

Tom Daley says it would be a dream come true to win Olympic gold after his place at London 2012 was confirmed.

While Daley and synchronised partner Peter Waterfield were in as expected, Tonia Couch was not selected for the 10m platform event.

That place has gone to Monique Gladding, who finished third at the Olympic trials at the weekend.

"It's my dream to win Olympic gold. It feels great to be selected and I can't wait," Daley told BBC Sport.

"To walk out in front of a home crowd in the Olympics is the pinnacle of anyone's sporting career."

The 18-year-old from Plymouth's place in the squad was rubber-stamped on Monday after his victory in Sunday's individual 10m platform final at the GB Olympic diving trials ahead of Waterfield, with whom he had claimed gold in Friday's synchronised event.

The pair were also the overall winners in the Diving World Series 10m platform synchro in April.

"Everyone seemed to think I had already qualified, but this is the first day I've been officially certain of my Olympic place," Daley added.

"It's such a relief and it's great to know all that hard work has paid off.

Daley said he was glad to "prove a point" with his recent victories, which also included 10m platform gold at the European Diving Championships last month, following criticism from performance director Alexei Evangulov.

After finishing seventh at the World Cup in February, Evangulov had warned Daley that he would miss out on an Olympic medal if he did not cut down on his media work.

He added: "I know I've been training as hard as I can for the last year. I know I haven't missed any training sessions. It was good to prove a point. I have been working hard and it shows in my performances this year.

Meanwhile it is understood that Couch, who was not selected for the individual 10m platform event as she is already competing in the 10m synchro with Sarah Barrow, will appeal against the decision.

Her coach Andy Banks criticised the move by the Olympic selectors to pick Gladding ahead of Couch who reached the Olympic final in Beijing.

"I feel, quite strongly, that she [Couch] has demonstrated over the course of this year that she is still the UK's premier platform diver - she has been since 2008," Banks told BBC Devon.

"At the trials she got a personal best score and a British record in the synchro event and went on to get a personal best score in the individual event, so I disagree with the reasoning behind her non-selection."

Gladding, who last year suffered a life-threatening injury after fracturing her scull on the platform while competing in Russia, said she was delighted to be selected.

"To be in London, after the year I've had, I've had to dig deeper than ever," Gladding said. "It's been such a good year. I have given everything I've got."

There is still one position left to be filled with the second women's individual 3m springboard berth yet to be confirmed after Rebecca Gallantree failed to attain the required qualification score during the preliminaries on Sunday.

British Swimming is liaising with world governing body FINA and expects to be able to confirm Gallantree's individual inclusion in the coming week.

The Olympic diving events begin on 29 July before finishing with the platform final on 11 August.

Full team:

Tom Daley - 10m individual and 10m synchronised

Peter Waterfield - 10m individual and 10m synchronised

Chris Mears - 3m individual and 3m synchronised

Nick Robinson-Baker - 3m synchronised

Jack Laugher - 3m individual

Alicia Blagg - 3m synchronised

Rebecca Gallantree - 3m synchronised

Hannah Starling - 3m individual

Tonia Couch - 10m synchronised

Sarah Barrow - 10m synchronised

Stacie Powell - 10m individual

Monique Gladding - 10m individual