Tom Daley, one of the main figures of Britain’s Olympic renaissance, has confirmed the Paris Games were his last. The 30-year-old is retiring from competitive diving after five Games, five medals and a legacy that goes well beyond the unparalleled success he achieved in his sport.
Daley returned on Monday to the UK after the completion of another successful Olympics for Team GB. The silver medal he achieved alongside Noah Williams in the synchronised 10m platform event was one of 65 Team GB medals, up on that of Tokyo three years ago. Daley, who served as the Team GB flag bearer at the opening ceremony, said it was “the end of an era” but that “it was the right time to call it a day”.
In an interview with Vogue, Daley said he had made the decision to retire before the competition began in Paris and that the experience of taking to the board in the final, knowing it would be his ultimate effort, had been “surreal”.
“I felt so incredibly nervous going into this, knowing it was my last Olympics,” he said. “It was emotional at the end, up there on the platform, knowing it was going to be my last competitive dive. But I have to make the decision at some point.”
After Team GB’s arrival on Monday at London’s St Pancras station, Daley told the BBC that the emotion of his decision was “a lot” but that he was “really happy” with how his swan song had played out. “It’s really hard when you say goodbye to your sport,” he said. “It’s the right time.
“This year felt like such a bonus. I got to compete in front of my family, in front of my kids, I got to be the flag bearer, there were a lot of bucket list items ticked off.”
Competing for Plymouth Diving Club from the age of seven, Daley made his Olympic debut at the age of 14 in Beijing in 2008. He won a bronze in the individual men’s 10m platform at London 2012 and repeated the trick at Rio and Tokyo, where he also achieved the crowning moment of his career; a gold medal in the synchronised 10m with Matty Lee.
The most successful diver in British Olympic history, Daley has also won four world championships, five European championships and four golds at the Commonwealth Games. He gave indications he would retire after his success in Tokyo, but last year said he would seek to compete in Paris.
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During the 16 years he has been in the public eye Daley’s life has been marked by challenges, but his response to adversity helped to further establish him as a national figure. His emergence in Beijing led to bullying at his school, while his father, Robert, who was also his coach, died of a brain tumour in 2011, six days after Daley’s 17th birthday.
Despite his success in London and his projection as a face of the Games, Daley was also the object of extensive online abuse in 2012, with two men arrested for remarks posted on Twitter. A year later, Daley came out as gay, announcing his relationship with Dustin Lance Black, who is now his husband.
“In spring my life changed massively when I met someone,” he said in a YouTube video. “They make me feel so happy, so safe. Everything just feels great and that someone is a guy.”
Daley’s bravery, his willingness to embrace joy and his natural aptitude for social media (plus, yes, his stunning abdominal muscles) have helped him build a public presence that transcends his extensive sporting success. He has become one of the most prominent LGBTQ+ faces in Britain and, despite complicated feelings over the desire for openly gay athletes to serve as role models, has latterly leaned into activism, arguing that the Olympic movement should not allow countries where homosexuality is illegal to compete in the Games.
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It is his role as a father of two boys that has guided his life choices in recent years and Daley said it was an intervention on the part of his eldest son, Robbie, that made him decide to try for Paris. After a visit to the Olympic and Paralympic museum in Colorado Springs, last year, Daley said Robbie had said: “Papa, I want to see you dive at the Olympics,” and that this wish had “lit a new fire inside me”.
Daley told Vogue that stepping out on to the high board at Paris’s Aquatic Centre confirmed he made the right choice. “There was a lot of pressure and expectation. I was eager for it to be done … but when I walked out, and saw my husband and kids and my friends and family in the audience, I was like, you know what? This is exactly why I did this. I’m here and no matter what happens in the competition itself I’m going to be happy.”
Daley’s next step will now be eagerly awaited, but if all else fails he can turn to crocheting.A hobby he picked up in the stands of the Tokyo Games is now a passion and his designs, which include Olympic medal covers, can be found on their own Instagram account.