British Diver Tom Daley Attacked On Twitter After 2012 Olympics Defeat

by UInterviewAugust 2, 2012, 12:00 amNews >

After British diver Tom Daley, 18, and his partner, Pete Waterfield, 31, failed to secure a medal in the 10m platform diving competition on Monday, coming in fourth after Chinese duo Cao Ya and Zhang Yanquan won the gold, German partners Sanchez Sanchez and Ivan Garcia Navarro took the silver, and USA's Patrick Hausding and Sascha Klein nabbed the bronze, Daley was bombarded with threatening Twitter messages about his defeat.

Welsh Premier League midfielder Daniel Thomas, 28, was reportedly arrested, reports BBC, after an offensive and homophobic message was sent from Thomas' Twitter account to Daley's Twitter page. Thomas "was called in by police and arrested [Wednesday] and is on conditional bail," said Andrew Edwards, a chairman for Port Talbot Town, for which Thomas plays.

"Port Talbot Town Football Club can confirm Daniel Thomas has been suspended from all involvement with the club until we have carried out a full internal investigation," a source told Wales Online. At the same time, Port Talbot FC officially stated that Thomas was the victim of a "misguided prank" after leaving his phone unattended.

The offensive tweets from Thomas' handle, intentional or not, mark the second Twitter attack against Daley since his London Olympics defeat. The first was levied by a 17-year-old boy who was arrested for harassment for tweeting to Daley, "You let your dad down i hope you know that," referring to the fact that Daley had previously said he hoped to win a medal in honor of his dad, who died one year ago of brain cancer at the age of 40. The teen also wrote, "hope your crying now you should be why can't you even produce for your country."

Following the offensive tweet, Daley retweeted the message, writing, "After giving it my all…you get idiot's sending me this." Later in the day, the teen apologized on Twitter for his message. "I'm sorry mate I just wanted you to win cause its the olympics I'm just annoyed we didn't win I'm sorry tom accept my apology."

Daley refuses to go on a "Twitter holiday," as many Olympians are doing, despite the recent events, reports the U.K.'s Independent.

For more on the 2012 London Olympics:

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U.S. Gymnast Danell Leyva Slips From Pommel Horse, Team Finishes Fifth

EXCLUSIVE: Olympic Gymnast Jonathan Horton Talks Competition Day Routine

Jordyn Wieber Eliminated From All-Around Final At 2012 London Olympics

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