In the world of elite platform diving, 30-year-olds are antediluvian creatures. Sheffield-based Taylor, an Olympic silver medalist in the synchronised event in 2004, is already the oldest competitor on the international circuit.

His rivals for a place at Beijing 2008 include a diver who was not even born when Oasis released their first single. Thomas Daley, 13, finished second in the individual 10m highboard at the British National Championships in the summer.

"There was a German lad a few months older than me," says Taylor, whose colleagues presented him with a pair of slippers on his birthday and now call him 'grandad'. "But he just retired."

Diving has echoes of Logan's Run, the book and film about a dystopian society where anyone reaching 30 was executed, and Taylor is the equivalent of the Michael York character, a renegade on the run.

Taylor is trying to defeat physiology, rather than malign human forces. There is a reason why platform divers have to hang up their, er, skimpy briefs at such an early age.

"My body is feeling the effect of 22 years of diving," says Taylor, who will stand down after the Olympics. "I've had four operations on the same shoulder and I've got niggles in my lower back. That's what happens. It's not just the impact of hitting the water from 10m. It's the strain from so many flips and spins. That's why there are no other 30-year-olds in my event.

"If you do anything to excess – drinking, smoking, eating – it can harm your body. Elite sport is bad for you. You have to do things to excess and push your body to the limits."

Cheltenham-born Taylor has suffered more than most.

In 2005, he was involved in an accident when a lorry hit his car, the impact wrenching his shoulder out of position. Cortizone injections enabled him to compete in the World Championships that year, and he and his partner Pete Waterfield won bronze, but he had to go under the knife twice in 2006 to try and rectify the problem.

He says: "My surgeon says he has never performed my operation on anyone aged less than 55. I have the shoulder of someone 25 years older than me.

"As you get older, your recovery time increases and the risk of injury increases. You have to strain harder and train harder."

Taylor will not continue after the Beijing Olympics. "If you see me on a diving board again, shoot me," he vows, borrowing from Sir Steve Redgrave. Unlike the five-times Olympic champion rower, Taylor will not change his mind.

"I'm standing down after the Olympics," he insists. "That'll be it for me. As much as I would love to compete at the London Olympics in 2012, in front of a home crowd, it's just not possible. You have to be pragmatic. I'd just be making up the numbers and I would hate to do that."

Currently, Taylor is not an also-ran in the field. Despite his superannuated status, he believes he can win another Olympic medal next year at what would be his fourth Games should he come through the 'cut-throat' qualifying processs.

He says: "I'm really in great shape. I am stronger than ever – I am working harder than ever. The most important thing is I'm still enjoying it and I still love competing – I wouldn't be doing it if I didn't.

"I'm also relying on my mental strength. I've been doing this for nearly 25 years. I can draw on a wealth of experience that other athletes don't have, and that should pay under pressure.

"We train six hours a day, six days a week and when you get to the Olympics, you have six dives, which each take a second-and-a-half to perform.

"I've been through some difficult times in the last couple of years, not being able to compete, and my injuries could have been career-ending, but I'm in a good attacking position with the Olympics eight months away. I'm certainly not going out there to come fourth like we did in Sydney. Pete and I are still a competitive pairing.

"However, we know that beating the Chinese in China is the tallest of orders. At the World Championships this year, the Chinese won 11 out of the 12 golds.

"There will be 20,000 Chinese people screaming for their divers and in a subjective sport, it will be no surprise that the judges are bound to be influenced by the crowd."

Even qualifying for the Olympics will be difficult – there are just eight spots available for the synchronised 10m highboard event and 30 for the individual.

Four of the synchro spots have gone already, at an event this year when Taylor was injured and unable to event.

The four remaining places will be allocated to nations rather than individuals at the World diving Cup, also in Beijing, in February. it is up to Taylor, Waterfield and possibly young Daly to win Great Britain a spot. Should Britain qualify, the individual competitors will be determined later in 2008.

"The British divers would fight for spots in June," says Taylor. "But if someone doesn't earn Britain a spot, that's it. Even if we do, there are plenty of young divers coming through in this country. It's not sewn up for me and Pete."

Diving has World Championships every two years but the sport only comes to widespread prominence at the Olympics, as Taylor readily acknowledges.

"My life works on a four-year cycle," he says. "The Olympics is what you will be remembered for."

For an Olympian, a medal is everything and fourth is nothing. "Worlds apart," says Taylor, who received minimal attention after finishing just outside the medal places in Sydney.

But when he and Waterfield picked up Britain's first medals of the Athens Games, they instantly became front-page stars.

His success has opened up all sorts of opportunities.

His sponsors include B&Q, for whom he officially opened a new store in Widnes last week (oh, the glamour), and Speedo.

He was heavily involved in promoting London's Olympic bid and he is forging a second career as a motivational speaker, which he will spend more time developing when he retires from the pool.

He says: "A lot of what I've experienced in sport can be applied to other situations, particularly in business.

"The frameworks are very similar: I talk to people about raising the bar, improving yourself, dealing with adversity, keeping morale high, teamwork – I have to rely on Pete. All sorts of things. The audience can draw parallels.

"When I retire, I want to stay involved in sport, but I don't want to marry myself to it. I want to go out there and do lots of different things, and then come back closer to sport again – initially, maybe as a mentor. What I've learnt could be invaluable to young athletes and help them to success in London 2012."

A second medal next year will only add to his inspirational qualities.


SHEFFIELD: Centre of Excellence


With medals at the Olympic Games and the World Championships, Leon Taylor, pictured far right, is the most high-profile of the divers who have been based in Sheffield over the last few years, but there have been plenty of other medal-winners.

Sheffield attracts divers from all over the country, because of the quality of the facilities at Pond's Forge, the expertise of the coaches and the proximity of the back-up support at the English Institute of Sport.

Tony Ally, who recently announced his retirement, won two medals at the European Championships and four at the Commonwealth Games. The Londoner twice finished fourth in the World Championships.

HIs diving partner Mark Shipman, from Guiseley, shared many of those medals with him and Jane Smith, from Sheffield, won a medal at the Commonwealth Games. She finished fourth, alongside Leeds-based Tandi Gerrard, at the Athens Olympics.

Of the current crop, Hayley Sage, 21, from Welwyn Garden City, is the National Champion at the 3m springboard and the 3m synchro. She won bronze at the Commonwealth Games and finished in the top 10 at the last two World Championships.

Ben Swain, Nocholas Robinson-Baker and Jodie McGroarty are reigning National champions.