The British Media have become notorious throughout the passing of time for their ability to build up sports stars only to knock them back down. Notable examples include such stars as Paul Gascgoigne and David Beckham as both have lived out their lives under the watchful eye of the media.
However it is becoming increasingly evident that this attitude is filtering down from the media and into society in general.
This is no more evident than in the case of Tom Daley.
On the face of it Daley appears to have it all. A competitor in the Beijing Olympics at 14, he recently became Britain's youngest World Champion in any sport after winning the recent World Diving Championships held in Rome.
As it turns out, though, his success has brought with it great difficulty, culminating in him being removed from his school after suffering persistent bullying at the hands of his classmates.
In an interview with the Daily Telegraph Daley said: "It began with 'Speedo Boy', then 'Diver Boy', and that was ok, but then the younger kids started doing it too. I wasn't upset, just annoyed that I couldn't go anywhere without being hassled. It then graduated to things like 'How much are your legs worth?Shall I break them for you?' and I was getting pencil cases, rolls of masking tape and other stuff lobbed at me. By the end they were deliberately tripping me up."
It is a sad state of affairs that such a talented young man has become such a victim of his own astonishing success.
We are just lucky that he is able to rise above the lousy behaviour of his peers, surely motivated by jealousy at what Daley has already achieved in such a short time.
Fortunately, though, his passion for divind remains undimmed as he focuses on more success in the future.
"I may have just won gold, but thinking about what you've done doesn't get you anywhere. As far as diving goes, I'm back to square one, and three years of hard work for 2012."