Tom Daley announces retirement from diving: ‘It feels like the right time’
It's the end of an era for Tom, who says he's "completed the colours"
Tom Daley has announced that he is retiring from diving at the age of 30.
The five-time Olympic medal winner revealed the news today (Monday 12 August 2024) in an interview with Vogue.
The news follows the athlete’s triumphant turn at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 this summer.
“I’ve completed the colours” – Tom Daley
The star told the outlet: “It was emotional at the end, up there on the platform, knowing it was going to be my last competitive dive. 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.”
In Paris, he won silver in the men’s synchro 10m platform with Noah Williams.
Tom now has one gold, one silver and three bronze Olympic medals. “[I’ve] completed the colours,” he told Vogue.
“It feels very, very surreal,” he furthermore added. “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 [Lance] and kids [Robbie and Phoenix] and 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.”
Tom, who came out publicly in 2013, is married to Milk screenwriter Dustin Lance Black. Together, they are fathers to two sons: Robert ‘Robbie’ Ray, six, and Phoenix Rose, one.
Discussing his ambition in his 2021 cover interview with Attitude, Tom said: “I’m a big dreamer, but I also never put limits on what I can achieve, and I think that’s something that I’ve just always done from a young age.”