Tom Daley Wins Silver Medal at Paris Olympics After Unretiring as His Husband and Children Look On
The British diver has said his son Robbie, 6, wanted to see him compete in the Olympics
British swimmer Tom Daley is going out with a bang at the 2024 Paris Olympics!
The beloved diver, 30, won silver alongside Noah Williams for Team Great Britain in the men’s synchronized 10-meter platform at the Paris Aquatics Center on Monday, July 29. They fell to China’s Lian Junjie and Yang Hao.
The medal marks a poignant moment for Daley, as this will likely be his final Olympic event ever, as he recently returned from retirement to compete one last time.
The star athlete had his entire family in the audience to cheer him on, including husband Dustin Lance Black, 50, and their sons Robbie, 6, and Phoenix, 1. Though Daley had been retired for two years, it was Robbie who helped convince him to give it one last go.
Daley told the Paris Olympics that he and his family visited the United States Olympic & Paralympic Museum in Colorado Springs, and shared an emotional moment that ended with his son asking to see Daley compete.
“At the end, there was this video of what it means to be an Olympian, and of course, by the end of it, I was crying, and Robbie turned to me and said, 'What's the matter, Papa, what's the matter?'” Daley recalled. “I said I missed diving and I missed the Olympics, and Lance looked at me and said, 'Oh no, I know what this means'. And Robbie was like, 'I want to see you dive at the Olympics'. And that was that.”
Though Daley said he knew there was “no guarantee” he’d be able to qualify, considering he’d taken two years off, he was determined, and is “really proud” of himself for having his hard work pay off.
“That’s the big thing that I wanted to do, set an example, even to my kids that if you have a dream and you want to set your mind to it, you can get there,” he said.
Daley made his Olympic debut at age 14 in Beijing 2008, and is the first Team GB diver to win four Olympic medals. He last won gold in Tokyo 2020.
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