Tom Daley has announced his retirement from diving following the Olympic Games in Paris.
The 30-year-old claimed the fifth Olympic medal of his extraordinary diving career with silver in the men’s synchronised 10 metre platform in France.
Here, the PA news agency looks back at his Olympic career.
Beijing 2008 – Olympics debut
Tom Daley, right, and Blake Aldridge struggled in Beijing (Gareth Copley/PA)
Daley had already cultivated a trailblazing reputation by the time he arrived on to the Olympic stage, aged 14 – the youngest competitor at the 2008 Games. As the youngest ever European champion, there were lofty expectations but he finished dead last alongside Blake Aldridge in the synchronised event and seventh individually. Aldridge seemed to point fingers at Daley for their poor performance afterwards, saying: “I wasn’t on the top of my game, but I out-dived Thomas. I think he really struggled to get through the competition.” It was not the fairytale finish in his maiden Games but Daley delivered on his potential the following year by becoming Britain’s first ever individual world diving champion.
London 2012 – bronze homecoming
Daley got his hands on an Olympic medal on home soil (Andrew Milligan/PA)
The pressure ramped up on on home soil with Daley one of the poster boys – even if he was still in his teens. The death of his beloved father and biggest supporter Robert 15 months before the Games hit him hard but after finishing fourth in the synchronised event with Peter Waterfield, Daley got his hands on a medal. It was not without controversy, with Daley being allowed to retake a dive in the individual final after being distracted by several camera flashes. While he was in the lead ahead of the last round, he chose a less difficult dive ahead of his two main rivals and settled for third before being thrown into the pool by his team-mates. “I really wish my dad was here to see that,” Daley said afterwards.
Rio 2016 – bronze again
Daley endured individual heartache in Rio (Mike Egerton/PA)
Expectation was at its peak for Daley in Brazil and he followed up his individual bronze four years later with the last podium spot in the synchronised event alongside new partner Daniel Goodfellow. He looked well placed to improve on his London 2012 bronze after finishing first in the preliminary round. But he endured a poor first three rounds of the semi-final at Maria Lenk Aquatics Centre and his inability to recover in the remaining three meant he suffered the ignominy of finishing last of the 18 competitors, with the top 12 making it through. “It doesn’t get any lower than this,” a tearful Daley said. “I don’t really know what went wrong. I’ve no idea.”
Tokyo 2020 – gold at last
Daley, left, got his hands on Olympic gold 13 years after first competing at the Games (Adam Davy/PA)
Daley finally got his hands on the gold medal he had coveted for so long, topping the podium alongside Matty Lee in the synchronised event after they edged out China by just 1.23 points. It was one of the feelgood stories of the Games, with Daley then going viral in Japan for his knitting hobby while watching his team-mates in action. Daley, who married Oscar-winning screen writer Dustin Lance Black in 2017, said: “I hope that any young LGBT person out there can see that no matter how alone you feel right now, you are not alone. You can achieve anything.” He finished his Games with individual bronze.
Paris 2024 – completing the set
Daley and Noah Williams won silver in Paris on Monday (Mike Egerton/PA)
Daley had effectively retired after Tokyo and moved to Los Angeles with Black and their two young sons but the eldest, Robbie, coaxed him back as he wanted to see his ‘Papa’ compete. Taking part in the synchronised event only, Daley was partnered with Noah Williams as Lee’s spinal surgery ruled him out of competing in the French capital. This time, the Chinese proved too good but Daley and Williams were comfortably ahead of third. Daley said: “Doing it in front of my son who asked me to come back is so special I now have one of every colour.”
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