British diver Alicia Blagg has insisted that she will not allow the hype of the Rio 2016 Olympics to distract her when she competes at the World Championships in Russia this month.
The 18-year-old will perform in the 3m individual and in the 3m synchronised event with partner Rebecca Gallantree in Kazan.
Blagg can boost her chances of qualifying for the Olympics if she succeeds at the Worlds, which begin on July 24.
"For me it is simply about qualifying for Rio and I'm not thinking about trying to a get a medal because it can distract you from everything else," swimming.org quotes Blagg as saying. "I want to take it step by step and then see what happens.
"The thing with diving is that things can change so quickly. One minute you could be world champion and then if you have one bad dive you are sixth. So you have to be focused and take it dive by dive and not get carried away. Rio is a year away so it is not on my mind. I need to qualify first."
Blagg won bronze with Tom Daley at a World Series event in Canada two months ago.
Danielle Joynson
