Superstar British diver Tom Daley has announced his retirement from the sport. The 30-year-old from Plymouth won a silver medal two weeks ago in the 10 meter synchronized diving event at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, marking the fourth-straight Olympic Games in which he has medaled.
In an interview with British Vogue, Daley said “It was emotional at the end, up there on the platform, knowing it was going to be my last competitive dive,” Daley tells Vogue of the milestone news, following a stellar showing at the Paris Olympic Games. “But I have to make the decision at some point, and it feels like the right time. It’s the right time to call it a day.”
Daley was one of two who carried the British flag in the opening ceremony at the Paris Olympic Games.
Daley says up next he’s going to learn how to sew via enrollment at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles and then hopes to launch a swimwear project to complement his small clothing line.
In 2007, Daley won silver at the Australian Youth Olympic Festival in the 10-meter synchro event with partner Callum Johnstone. He went on to win the senior platform title at the Amateur Swimming Association National Championships for English divers. That earned him the 2007 BBC Sports Personality of the Year Young Personality Award.
In January 2008, when he was only 13 years old, Daley won his first British National Championship Daley, making him the youngest to ever win that event. 18 months later, he won his first diving World Championship in 2009, just past his 15th birthday.
In total, he has 26 major international medals to his credit. That includes 5 Olympic medals, including a historic gold in 10-meter synchro at the Tokyo 2020 Games. The pair are the only divers to beat out China for gold at the last two Olympic Games.
He is a 4-time World Champion, 5-time European Champion, and 4-time Commonwealth Games Champion as well.
Outside of his performance on the boards and platforms, Daley also gained fame as one of the most successful openly-queer athletes in the world. He and his partner Dustin Lance Black, an American film screenwriter, director, and producer, married in 2017 and welcomed their first child in June 18. Their second child was born in March 2023.
As a sign of his popularity, Daly has 4 million followers on Instagram – about 200,000 more than American swimmer Michael Phelps.
Daley previously took extended breaks from the sport in 2016 and in 2022, he publicly mulled his future in diving.
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