PLYMOUTH diving star Tom Daley is determined to try and fulfil his lifetime ambition by winning an Olympic gold medal in Rio.

Daley will begin his Olympic campaign on Monday evening when he competes with Dan Goodfellow in the 10m synchro final (8pm BST).

His bid for individual gold will start on Friday, August 19, with the semi-final and final the following day.

Daley won bronze in that event in London four years ago, but he wants to be on top of the podium in Brazil.

His main rivals will be China’s world champion Qiu Bo and team-mate Chen Aisen, plus defending Olympic champion David Boudia from America.

“I’m going into this Olympic Games for a gold medal,” said 22-year-old Daley, who is competing at his third Olympics.

“I am going in with the mentality that the Chinese have to beat me.  I don’t have to beat them. They’ve got to try to beat me.”

Daley said if he could win gold, he would dedicate it to his late father, Rob, who died of a brain tumour in 2011.

“I’ve always wanted to win an Olympic gold medal and to do it for my dad would be absolutely amazing,” said Daley.

“It’s not just me standing up on that board. It’s everyone around me. Coaches, friends, family, support staff, everyone that gets you to that point.”

Daley and Plymouth Diving’s Goodfellow have won medals at every competition they have entered since forming a new partnership at the start of this year and there is no reason why, if they perform to their best, they cannot make the podium on Monday in Rio, where they won World Cup bronze in February.

The following day, Plymouth’s Tonia Couch will begin her Olympic campaign when she dives in the women’s 10m synchro with Huddersfield teenager Lois Toulson.

Couch, like Daley, is competing at her third Olympic Games.

She will dive in the women’s individual event, alongside Plymouth team-mate Sarah Barrow, on Wednesday, August 17. The semi and final will be the following day.