The mother of Olympic bronze medal-winning diver Daniel Goodfellow hit out at newspapers after some did not feature her son in photographs of the success.
Daniel and diving partner Tom Daley came third in the men’s synchronised 10m platform dive in Rio on Monday.
Sharon Goodfellow said she was “surprised” a number of papers featured only Tom on their front and back pages.
However, Daniel said: “To me it doesn’t really matter.”
His mother initially took to Twitter to express her disappointment with some of the media coverage (or lack of media coverage) of her son.
But speaking on ITV’s This Morning on Tuesday, Ms Goodfellow said her son, who grew up in Cambridgeshire and trained at Parkside Pools in Cambridge, was “happy to stay in the background”.
Goodfellow ‘almost quit diving in 2014’
She said she was still “quite in shock” after watching the 19-year-old and partner Daley, 22, take the medal.
Image copyrightDAILY MAIL“I was going to just watch the first two dives but then I thought if they have a bad dive I will switch off,” she said.
Her son “didn’t mind” about the media coverage that followed the pair’s bronze medal, she added.
Why did some papers just show Tom Daley? The expert’s view:
Bob Satchwell, executive director of the Society of Editors, and former editor of the Cambridge Evening News, said “Tom Daley is the recognisable star”.
However, he added: “Often an editor will make a decision according to the space available, and in this case most likely needed something ‘tall and thin’.
“I don’t think there’s anything more sinister than that.”
Editors often have to make “difficult decisions” which he “wouldn’t want to second guess”.
Asked why he thinks some media outlets amended their coverage, he said: “They’ve clearly listened to their readers’ opinions”.
Asked by BBC Radio Cambridgeshire about the newspaper images, Daniel said: “Me and Tom have both been working so hard for this and we’re both so happy for each other.
“To me it doesn’t really matter.”
However, he joked he would be “having a stern word” with his mother.
“I’d probably just tell my mum to stay off Twitter.”
Ms Goodfellow, who has since taken to Twitter to thank people for their support, told the BBC “it had all gone a bit viral”.
“As people have pointed out, it’s a synchro competition and you can’t really have one diver singled out. People were a bit confused,” she said.
The focus on Mr Daley at the expense of Mr Goodfellow drew widespread criticism on social media.
Journalist Stig Abell tweeted: “Great medal for Dan Goodfellow and synchronised partner tonight.”
The Times was one paper to later change aspects of its coverage to focus equally on Daniel Goodfellow’s achievement.
[Source:- BBC]
