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Tom Daley confirms retirement from diving after Paris 2024: ‘It’s the right time’
The diver retires as the most decorated British diver in history, winning five Olympic medals including a silver in Paris and carrying Great Britain’s flag at the opening ceremony
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Tom Daley has announced his retirement from diving after winning his fifth Olympic medal at Paris 2024.
Daley secured synchronised 10m platfom silver alongside Noah Williams to complete a full set of medals at the Olympics, winning gold in the event with Matty Lee in Tokyo to go with three bronzes.
The 30-year-old was one of Team GB’s opening ceremony flagbearers and concludes a competitive career that has included five Olympic appearances and two individual world titles.
The diver had indicated during the Games that he might remain in the sport to compete in Los Angeles, the city he now calls home, in 2028.
But Daley — who reversed his first retirement to feature in Paris — has said that it is the “right time to call it a day”.
“It was emotional at the end, up there on the platform, knowing it was going to be my last competitive dive,” Daley told Vogue, confirming the news. “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.
“It feels very, very surreal. I felt so incredibly nervous going into this, knowing it was my last Olympics. There was a lot of pressure and expectation. I was eager for it to be done… but when I walked out, and saw my husband [Dustin Lance Black] and kidsand my friends and family in the audience, I was like, you know what? This is exactly why I did this. I’m here, and no matter what happens in the competition itself, I’m going to be happy.”
Daley made his Olympic debut as the youngest member of Team GB’s squad at the 2008 Olympics, finishing seventh in the 10m platform competition.
Having secured a first world title in Rome in 2009, Daley added individual Olympic bronze at London 2012 before winning the first of three synchronised medals in Rio de Janeiro.
Born in Plymouth, he is the only three-time winner of the BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year award and was made an OBE in the 2022 New Year Honours.
Having come out of retirement to allow his children to see him dive at the Olympics, Daley was voted one of Team GB’s flag bearers alongside Helen Glover for the opening ceremony along the River Seine.
He and Williams combined to secure silver behind Chinese pair Yang Hao and Lian Junjie in a brilliant Games for Great Britain’s divers that saw them win a medal in every synchronised event.
“To currently be Britain’s most decorated diver… I feel so incredibly proud,” Daley added. “When I look back, I’m really, genuinely satisfied with what I’ve done.”
Of his immediate plans, Daley added to the BBC: “I want to be with my family. I’m really excited to be able to spend some time with them and just be able to feel a bit normal for a couple of days.
“It’s always hard when you say goodbye to your sport. Lots of things to process, but I think it’s the right time. This year felt like such a bonus and I got to compete in front of my family, my kids. I got to be flag bearer. So yeah, bucket list ticked off on every occasion.”
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