Tom Daley Decided to Come Out Retirement for This Reason
Tom Daley has revealed the sweetest reason why he decided to come out of retirement and get back on the diving board ahead of this summer's Paris Olympics.
If you remember, Daley clinched goal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in the men's synchronized 10m platform. However, his son, Robbie, was not present to see his dad be an Olympian, Daley told the Independent.
Then Daley got an idea to go back.
"I was sitting down there and being like: 'Oh my gosh, I don't think I'm ready for this.' I was crying. I looked at over at Lance [Daley's husband]," Daley told the Guardian. "And Lance looked at me and went: 'Oh, no, here we go.'"
Daley, 29, also won bronze in the men's 10m platform in Japan. He passed on competition in the 2023 World Championships, but he had a change of heart after a visit to the Olympic and Paralympic Museum in Colorado with his family.
"Robbie said to me at the time: 'Papa, I want to see you dive at the Olympics.' It was just that whole thing," said Daley. "There was just a lot that overwhelmed me at that point. But I just said: 'You know what? I want to give it another shot.'"
And here we are. Daley is back with his coach, Jane Figueiredo, and returned to clinch gold in competitive diving at the British National Diving Cup in the 10m synchro.
"It felt really weird to come back, I felt quite shy in a way to get back into it, because I had been part of that team for so long, and then to step out and see how things had changed, it felt weird and different," said Daley about breaking his retirement. "But it is really nice to be back. I feel really happy, I'm enjoying it and that's the main thing."
Look for Daley next summer at the Paris Olympics next summer.