Matty Lee and Daley take lead with two rounds to go
Pip 'unassailable' China pair by 1.23 points
Tom Daley is an Olympic champion. Six little words Britain has waited for ever since he burst onto the international stage as an absurdly precocious child four Olympics ago have become a reality.
Adding to bronze medals won at the last two Olympics, Daley completed his hat-trick of podiums with the performance of his life alongside Matty Lee in the 10m synchronised platform in Tokyo on Monday. In the process, he became the first British diver ever to win three Olympic medals.
Given he is still only 27, it had been laughable to hear Daley discuss his age like he is about to draw his pension - he described himself as the “grandad” of the Team GB diving squad - when hinting the end was nigh.
Prior to these Tokyo Games, Daley had said he would continue competing until he wins Olympic gold or his body cannot keep going, “whichever comes first”. Job done. A blissful retirement awaits should he choose it.
The quest to make the podium here had appeared to be following a similar pattern to his previous medals: watch the utterly dominant and almost seemingly unbeatable Chinese pair somersault, pike and tuck their way to gold, and attempt to stay at the top of the chasing pack.
Tom Daley wins gold with Matty Lee - Al Bello/Getty Images
So it seemed with China’s Yuan Cao and Alsen Chen streaking clear by the halfway stage as Daley and Lee remained resolutely best of the rest in second.
Then, out of nowhere, the door opened. The Chinese pair’s fourth (of six) efforts was a shocker and when Daley and Lee continued their faultless sequence, they were suddenly in the lead.
When the gap at the top narrowed to just one point with one dive remaining, the only question remaining was whether the British pair could hold their nerve. Yes they could, and in what style. Their final dive - a forward four-and-a-half somersaults tuck - was spectacular.
Daley and Lee’s winning tally was 471.81, China’s was 470.58. The Russian pair were third.
Daley has been so many things throughout his career: the boy who had to move schools after he was bullied in the wake of his initial diving success; the young man who had to cope with the death of his father Rob from cancer just after his 17th birthday; a spokesman for the LGBTQ+ community after coming out as queer in 2013; a married man to American film director and producer Dustin Lance Black and a proud father to a three-year-old son Robbie.
Now he can add one other title to his name: Olympic gold medalist.
07:38 AM
How one last shot at glory turned to gold
Ben Bloom reports
So, now, at the still young age of 27, he competed at his fourth Olympic Games and managed to achieve his life's ambition
So much has changed. Having once been the “baby” of the GB diving team, Daley now describes himself as the “grandad” after a career spent in the glare of the public eye.
He had to move schools after he was bullied in the wake of his initial diving success and then had to cope with the death of his father Rob from cancer just after his 17th birthday.
Just months out from the London 2012 Olympics, GB diving performance director Alexei Evangulov shamefully suggested Daley was in danger of becoming “Britain’s Anna Kournikova”, in reference to the former tennis player who quit the sport to become a model.
Tom Daley brushes away a tear while Matty Lee is all smiles on the podium - Clive Rose/Getty Images
Daley battled with revealing his sexuality before coming out as queer in 2013, and has since become a proud spokesman for the LGBTQ+ community.
In 2017, he married the American film director and producer Dustin Lance Black, who is 20 years his senior, and three years ago they welcomed their son Robbie, named after Daley’s late father.
It has been quite the evolution and it is little wonder he said recently that “one thing I learnt early on is not to care what other people think”.
07:34 AM
Why Daley put celebrity life on hold for one last shot
Ben Bloom reports
There was just one problem as the hordes of journalists desperate to hear Daley’s explanation were about to find out: it was untrue.
“That was a bit of a shock,” said Daley with a laugh. “I can reassure everyone that I’m not retiring. I have no idea where [the reports] could have come from. When I read it I laughed. Next minute pigs will be flying.”
Later that week, Daley won his third Commonwealth title. Two years on, he showed how wrong that source had been by claiming Olympic 10 metre synchro bronze, and in 2017 he reclaimed the 10m platform world title he had last won eight years earlier.
Thomas Daley of Britain and Matty Lee of Britain - KAI PFAFFENBACH/REUTERS
As has often been the case in Daley’s career, he chose not to take the easy option of walking away from the sport, ditching the daily rigours of training and becoming a fully-fledged celebrity. It is simply not what he wants.
07:29 AM
Daley put celebrity life on hold for one final shot
Ben Bloom reports:
It was a few days out from the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games and the media scrum to try to grab a piece of Tom Daley was a Covid officer’s worst nightmare.
Just 48 hours earlier, the “news” had emerged that Daley would imminently be retiring. “He’s pretty much got no chance of medalling at the [2016] Olympics,” a source supposedly close to Daley was reported as saying. “He’s had a great career in diving and has so many other opportunities.”
Daley was only 20 at that point, but the decision to step away from competition made sense. He was already a household name after winning world gold at 15, claiming Olympic bronze at London 2012 and then beginning to shift into the mainstream showbusiness world as a mentor on the short-lived television show Splash! He did not need diving any more.
07:15 AM
It does feel like one of those fairytale moments
Like Kath Grainger in 2012, Sergio Garcia in 2017, Jenson Button 2009 ...
I can’t get over what @TomDaley1994 has achieved. After we followed him as that fragile child back in Beijing. His father dying. Being nailed on favourite in London when everyone else won gold. But not him. And now all those years later. Gold. WHAT A STORY
Covid protocols mean no immediate reaction from the winners
But there is plenty more out there to compensate meanwhile:
Huge respect for Tom Daley… FOUR Olympic Games and FINALLY Gold. The message in the journey alone. And then this for Matty and his FIRST time at the games…? It’s hard to give this context. WoW🤩
After bronzes at London and Rio, Tom Daley is Olympic champion. Matty Lee from Leeds, another Yorkshire gold medallist.
06:59 AM
GB win gold!
GB 471.81
China 470.58
ROC 439.92
06:59 AM
Here come the Chinese world champions
They need an average of 9.6 to win.
But they can't get it 101.52. Close but not enough.
06:57 AM
China need
102.76 to win gold with their back two and half somersault with two and a half twists which the commentators doubt is possible with 3.6 degree of difficulty.
06:57 AM
Russians up next
Back two and half somersault with two and a half twists.
89.64 - good but not good enough. Bronze for them.
06:55 AM
Daley and Lee move into huge lead
This is amazing. Gold is virtually guaranteed.
06:54 AM
Oh my goodness
Perfection - 101.01.
Good enough for gold!
06:53 AM
Daley and Lee climb the steps
For the most important dive of their careers.
06:53 AM
GB go before ROC and China
Pretty good position to be in, in terms of transferring the pressure.
06:49 AM
GB's last dive
Is the most difficult of them all, the forward 4½ somersault with tuck.
Nerve-shredding stuff. But if they nail it they should be uncatchable because of the higher degree of difficulty. But let's not get ahead of ourselves.
06:48 AM
In fourth are Ukraine
With 328.44. GB, barring a disaster, should have enough for a medal.
06:47 AM
China's score on their last dive
Was 93.24.
06:46 AM
With one round to go
GB 370.80
China 369.06
ROC 350.28
06:46 AM
China, too, with the most difficult of dives
Forward four and half somersault with tuck, 3.7 degree of difficulty.
And, as you'd expect, almost perfection.
Leaves GB with the slenderest of leads.
06:45 AM
Russia up with the hardest of all dives
Forward four and half somersault with tuck, 3.7 degree of difficulty.
Not good enough 77.80.
06:44 AM
'Even better than good, this is awesome'
Leon Taylor, understandably, is very excited.
06:43 AM
Should be good enough to retain their lead
They move to 370.80 overall with a score of 89.76. Brilliantly executed.
06:42 AM
GB up next
With back three and a half somersaults with tuck, 3.4 degree of difficulty.
06:38 AM
Two rounds to go and GB have six-point lead
But one error and it evaporates like ether.
Men's 10m Platform Synchro - Final - Tokyo Aquatics Centre, Tokyo, Japan July 26, 2021. Thomas Daley of Britain and Matty Lee of Britain in action - REUTERS/Marko Djurica
06:38 AM
Daley and Lee take the lead
Massive splash as they enter way beyond horizontal.
06:37 AM
China next with 3.6 degree of difficulty
Back three and a half somersaults with pike. Goodness. They make a big error - get 73.47 and GB are in the lead. They over rotated.
GB 281.04
China 275.82
ROC 272.58
06:36 AM
That extends their lead over the ROC team
To 8½ points. Russia chose the same dive and scored 89.64.
06:34 AM
Daley and Lee
Opt for back three and half somersaults with pike, which has a 3.6 degree of difficulty.
Leon Taylor shouts 'Yes, yes, yes!'
Amazingly well done - 93.96 score!
06:30 AM
China broaden commanding lead
China's Chen and Cao take a huge lead - Oli SCARFF / AFP
They establish a 15-point lead over GB with three to come. GB in second, five points ahead of the Russian Olympic Committee pair.
06:26 AM
Shock for the Russian pair
Who went for a greater degree of difficulty but only managed 78.6.
06:25 AM
Tom Daley and Matty Lee with their first optional
Inward three and a half somersault with tuck.
Quite impressive - spin speeds good, Lee came out of tuck early and perhaps went over the horizontal. 79.80 for them. Not as good as they would have hoped.
06:24 AM
China up next
They choose the inward dive with pike. And again nail it, taking a four point lead. GB are second, Canada third.
Oleh Serbin and Oleksii Sereda of Ukraine compete during the men's synchronized 10m platform diving final at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre at the 2020 Summer Olympics - AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky
06:17 AM
Here come the Russians
Bondar and Minibaev - ooh, not one of their best, reverse dive with pike, 51.60. That puts them behind Daley and Lee as they start on the non-optional dives.
06:15 AM
Second of six rounds begins
Daley and Lee go for the back one and half somersaults with half twist, another one of the required dives and they move into first place with 54.60.
06:13 AM
China take the lead
Cao Yuan and Chen Aisen, the favourites are awarded 54.00, more on reputation hints Leon Taylor. GB are joint second.
06:11 AM
Bondar and Minibaev
Who are one of the two main medal threats to GB, alongside the peerless China, also score 52.80 with their first dive.
06:08 AM
Daley and Lee begin
Inward one and a half somersault to begin with. Looked pretty good. Pretty much nailed it. And they scored 52.80 to start with which is very good given the level of difficulty is low but the same for everyone.
06:07 AM
The first round begins
Late, as per usual on the BBC. We start with the 'required dives' limited in difficulty, everyone picking one of the standard dives.
05:56 AM
Hello
Good morning and welcome to coverage of the men's synchro 10m platform diving featuring Tom Daley in his fourth Olympics and Matty Lee in his first, the pair who won bronze at the 2019 World Championships.
Ben Bloom profiled him a few days ago, focusing on how close he was to jacking it all in seven years ago.
'Having once been the “baby” of the GB diving team, Daley now describes himself as the “grandad” after a career spent in the glare of the public eye.
He had to move schools after he was bullied in the wake of his initial diving success and then had to cope with the death of his father Rob from cancer just after his 17th birthday.
Just months out from the London 2012 Olympics, GB diving performance director Alexei Evangulov shamefully suggested Daley was in danger of becoming “Britain’s Anna Kournikova”, in reference to the former tennis player who quit the sport to become a model.
Daley battled with revealing his sexuality before coming out as queer in 2013, and has since become a proud spokesman for the LGBTQ+ community.
In 2017, he married the American film director and producer Dustin Lance Black, who is 20 years his senior, and three years ago they welcomed their son Robbie, named after Daley’s late father.
It has been quite the evolution and it is little wonder he said recently that “one thing I learnt early on is not to care what other people think”.
The arrival of Robbie, in particular, has altered his entire outlook on his career. “This past year with the pandemic, being a husband, being a father, it’s completely shifted my perspective and you realise what actually matters most,” he said. “Most importantly, I am a parent.
“Obviously I want to do really well at the Olympic Games. But I think I used to define myself by how well I did at diving competitions. Whereas now, whether I do well or terribly, I know my son and husband will love me regardless. And that takes so much pressure off me, so I’ve been able to enjoy it.
“Normally when people go away they say they’re so busy being away. But coming away is a break for me. Robbie is going to be three in a couple of weeks and you’re usually running around after him, making dinner for him, or coming home cleaning or doing the laundry. All that stuff.
“It’s busy being a parent-athlete. When you go away and you can just be the athlete, it makes for a lot of spare time.”
Despite those retirement rumours seven years ago in Glasgow, Daley continues to operate at the highest level. He won gold and silver at this year’s European Championships and says he will continue competing until he wins Olympic gold or his body cannot keep going, “whichever comes first”.
The perils of writing him off prematurely are evident, but it would be a surprise to see him at the Paris 2024 Games, so this is likely to be his final shot at that elusive gold. He suggests his chances of gaining it are “very much equal” in the 10m platform and alongside new partner Matty Lee in the 10m synchro.
And what of his father, who was an almost constant presence at Daley’s diving competitions during those early days – what would he make of the man his son has become?
“I’d like to think he would be extremely proud of how far I’ve come as a person,” Daley said. “I sometimes forget that he never got to see me win an Olympic medal, he never got to see me dive in London, dive in Rio, win the World Championship again.
“I really would be curious to know what he might have thought. I’d like to think he would be proud of where I am and my family.”
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