Family man Tom Daley has happiest time diving at Paris Olympics

British diver Tom Daley knows the trials of being an Olympian better than many after making his first appearance as a 14-year-old in Beijing. Now balancing his sport with his family life, for him the run to Paris silver has been his happiest time yet.

Daley, who won gold in the same men’s synchronized 10-meter platform event in the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, decided last year to come back from retirement at the request of his older son, Robbie.

His husband Lance Black, a U.S. screenwriter and director, and their two boys were among the crowd at the Aquatics Centre on Monday, cheering on Daley, 30, and teammate Noah Williams for each of their six dives.

“I’m so proud to have been able to decide to come back after two years of (retirement),” a beaming Daley said after Monday’s event, even keeping the door open to a further appearance at the next Games in four years’ time.

“I think most of that was being able to set an example to my kids that if you have a dream and you work really hard, it doesn’t mean that you’re always going to be able to achieve exactly what you want to but it’s about enjoying the process and doing what you can to show up, to be the best person that you can be,” Daley said.

The pair fell short of upsetting China’s Yang Hao and Lian Junjie, who finished nearly 30 points ahead after the six rounds to take gold. But that did not take the shine off the experience.

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“For me, this year … is the happiest I’ve been in diving in all of these years because diving wasn’t necessarily my top priority. Of course, it was extremely important. But there is nothing more important than my children and being able to spend time with them,” Daley said.

“So I adjusted my training schedule to train once per day, Monday through Friday, and was then able to enjoy from basically train seven till 10 a.m. each morning, and then spend the rest of the day with my kids.”

Daley’s Olympic journey started in 2008 in the Beijing Games, when he achieved 7th place in the men’s individual 10-meter platform event.

He carried on to win a bronze medal in the event four years later at the home Olympics in London after being one of the faces of the Games. He also won bronze in the synchronized 10-meter event in the Rio Games.

His popularity only increased after he came out as gay in 2013. His personal life as well as hobby of knitting were featured in tabloids and his social media pages accumulated millions of followers.

He finally took gold at the Tokyo Games three years ago, with then diving partner Matty Lee, winning the synchronized 10-meter platform event in huge upset to China’s goal of taking all eight golds on offer.

Daley kept his options open when asked by Reuters what his future plans were. The next Olympic Games will be held in Los Angeles in 2028.

“Oh, gosh, I don’t really know yet,” he said. “I went from being the youngest on the team in 2008 to now the oldest diver on the team. I want to kind of enjoy this moment and make decisions about the future of diving for me later on.”

“They might be adding different events into the Olympic Games in LA … I live in LA now. So it could be, you know, a chance to do a second home Olympic Games,” he said. “But for right now, I just want to join this moment and we’ll see how it goes after that.”