Daley diving partner 'assaulted'

(GETTY IMAGES)

Olympic diver Blake Aldridge was distraught after an altercation outside a Southampton nightclub left him unable to resume his partnership with Tom Daley.

Aldridge, 26, who famously fell out with 14-year-old Daley during the Beijing Olympics, suffered serious facial injuries in an incident in the early hours of last Friday morning, forcing him to withdraw from this week's British Championships in Sheffield.

It would have been the pair's first synchronised competition since the bust-up in China, during which Aldridge publicly blamed Daley for their eighth-place finish.

"I've got 10 stitches down the front of my forehead, a broken nose, a black ear, a fat lip and a very badly bruised shoulder, so I've had better days," Aldridge told the Daily Telegraph.

"The timing couldn't have been worse. My main aim this year was to do the nationals and qualify to do the World Championships in the individual platform, but it seems like that chance has been taken away.

"Tom and I were also due to dive together again in our first competition since the Olympics, which would have been nice to do. We've still got the World Series coming up and my main focus now will be to get fit for that. I'm really upset because I've been training really hard.

"I obviously wanted to dive with Tom and go really well in the individual competition but that has now been snatched away from me. It's very disheartening."

Daley wished Aldridge a speedy recovery, saying: "It's sad to see what's happened to Blake but hopefully he will be back up and running soon so we can train together as soon as possible.

"I just hope he gets better soon."