Matty Lee backed to embrace 'golden boy' status ahead of Paris 2024

By Megan Armitage, Sportsbeat

Matty Lee has been told to inherit Tom Daley’s mantle as the golden boy of British diving with exactly 500 days to go until the Paris Olympic Games.

Leeds star Lee, 25, catapulted himself into the spotlight by winning Olympic gold in Tokyo alongside Daley – but is also a European champion and went on to win gold and bronze at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham last summer.

And ahead of the upcoming Olympic cycle for Paris 2024, Athens 2004 silver medallist Leon Taylor believes that Lee has all the tools required to emulate Daley’s exploits in both the French capital and beyond.

The 45-year-old, speaking ahead of the 500 day milestone, said: “Matty Lee had the pleasure and joy of getting to step up.

“When you get to stand next to someone as accomplished as Tom Daley as your synchro partner, metaphorically they’re big shoes to fill and Matty stepped up and rose to the occasion. The achievements speak for themselves - Olympic gold medals in Tokyo.

“What’s really pleasing for Matty, for now Tom’s still involved in the sport - who knows whether he’s retired or not - but Matty definitely is still.

“He’s had some tough times to deal with personally, which he’s taken in his stride and found his way to still perform at the highest level.

“I’m really excited to see him perform well and looking in the build-up to Paris with new synchro partners doing well, it’s a very exciting time for British diving at the moment, both in the men’s and the women’s events.

“Being a BBC commentator it gives me an immense amount of joy to cover the action, as it did at the Europeans as well as the Commonwealths.”

SportsAid ambassador Taylor was speaking at RBC headquarters in central London on #BeAGoodSportsAid Day, at a special event to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the bank’s partnership with the charity, which provides financial support to young and up-and-coming athletes.

SportsAid Week 2023 is an annual initiative launched in 2016, with this year’s event taking place from Monday 6 March to Sunday 12 March.

This year’s theme focuses on ‘Accessibility and Inclusion’ as the charity shines a spotlight on the country’s most talented young athletes and celebrates the incredible work being undertaken by its partners to support the future of British sport.

Taylor added: “The role SportsAid have been playing for over 40 years now impacted my adventure or career in such a positive way, and they’re still having the same impact now.

“The recognition that athletes gain, and also the financial support that goes alongside that, make a huge difference in the decisions they have to make.

“It gets harder and harder as you’re an athlete coming through, whatever sport you’re in there’s time costs and financial costs, all of these things can be overwhelming at times and whatever support you have makes a huge difference.”

SportsAid Week 2023 took place from Monday 6 March to Sunday 12 March and was a dedicated week of fun and awareness-raising based around theme of accessibility and inclusion. Please visit www.sportsaid.org.uk