It is 16 years since a teenage Tom Daley first stepped on the Olympic stage.
He was 14 at the 2008 edition in Beijing and on Monday – 5,831 days on – will return for his fifth Games in Paris.
Daley has spoken to BBC Sport about his emotional journey, during which he has won Olympic gold, dealt with the death of his father, married his partner Dustin Lance Black, become a father of two sons and effectively retired, only to announce a comeback…
‘A very tortured soul’ – growing up in the spotlight
Daley has grown up in the media spotlight from a young age. He won gold at the European Championships as a 13-year-old in 2008, finished seventh in the individual event at the Olympics, aged 14, later that year and came out as gay in 2013, shortly after winning his first medal at the London Games.
“As a kid growing up, feeling different and feeling like I didn’t quite fit in, I always felt like I had to overachieve to disguise the part of me that I always thought was considered wrong.
“I know how I felt in that period of time and it was like a very tortured soul.
“I struggled with all kinds of different things when it came to going away from home and being away like from my parents, going to unfamiliar territory.
“I was absolutely awful at staying away from home. I used to cry and never want to stay overnight without my parents.”
Image source, Getty Images
‘I wish dad had got to see me win Olympic medal’
During his early career Daley was taken to competitions and supported by his father, Rob. In 2006, Rob was diagnosed with a brain tumour and died in 2011, 14 months before the London Olympics.
“My dad was hugely dedicated to all of his kids, but in particular around my time.
“There was nothing that he wouldn’t do if it was going to help either make me feel better in training and give me a better opportunity to be able to go and compete.
“He was there for every competition and every training session, no matter what it was.
“To know how much he sacrificed is very special.
“I hope that he never regretted spending that time with me, travelling the world and getting to see those competitions.
“Now, as a parent, I feel like I have to live by his example on that as well. I so wish that he got to see me win an Olympic medal.”
‘He’s into the fun side of it’ – on son taking up diving
Daley won bronze at London 2012 and the Olympics four years later in Rio. In 2018 he and his husband Dustin Lance Black, a US film-maker, announced the birth of their son, Robbie, who was named after Daley’s father. Their second son, Phoenix, was born in 2023.
“Robbie likes coming to training sessions with me sometimes on a Saturday.
“He jumped off the 3m (diving board) when he was four and he’s been really into the ‘having fun’ side of it.
“But if I try to say, ‘oh, next time just try to get your legs together or point your toes’, he’s like, ‘Papa, I know how to do it…’
“He’ll tell me what I need to do.
“If we ever go on a hike, after 30 seconds he says, ‘my legs hurt’, so I don’t know if he is quite cut out for sport.”
‘I was there crying’ – what sparked Olympic comeback
Image source, Getty Images
At the Tokyo Games in 2021, Daley won his first Olympic gold in the 10m synchronised event with partner Matty Lee. Afterwards, having moved to the US with his family, he effectively retired from diving before announcing his return after a two-year break in 2023. The decision came after a trip to the US Olympic and Paralympic museum in Colorado…
“At the end of the museum they had this video of what it means to be an Olympian and all of the effort you have to go to to get to the Olympic Games.
“I remember the video finishing and I was there crying.
“It was Robbie who turned and said, ‘Papa, what’s the matter?’
“Lance looked at me, saw me crying and thought, ‘oh no. I know what this means…’
“I said, ‘I just really miss diving in the Olympics’, and Robbie said, ‘but Papa, I want to see you dive in the Olympics’ – and that was that.”
‘It’s for them’ – family inspires Paris bid
Daley, 30, will not compete in the individual events in Paris and will instead focus on the 10m synchronised event. He and partner Noah Williams won silver at the World Championships earlier this year and go into the event among the favourites. It will be Daley’s first Olympics in front of a crowd since Rio 2016, given the events in Tokyo took place in empty stadiums because of Covid-19 restrictions.
“Who knows what’s going to happen in these Games but I know I’ve got my Olympic gold medal.
“For me, this time around, my Olympic gold medals will be standing on the diving board, looking to my side and seeing my husband, my kids, my mum, my friends, family, aunts, uncles.
“There’s a lot of people coming to watch. To see them and be able to dive in front of that again will be extremely special.
“I’m so excited to see my little kids’ faces when I am stood on that diving board. That’s why I’ve come back this year – it’s for them.
“Every time I go to bed I have these moments of dreams where I imagine myself standing for my last dive and just like looking to the side and just thinking, ‘oh my gosh, this is it’.
“This was why I came back this year.”