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Tom Daley is relishing the prospect of juggling pike positions with punditry as he prepares for an Olympics in Paris like never before.
The British diving stalwart, 30, is gearing up for an unexpected return to the Games’ bright lights having looked set to hang up his trunks after winning a long-awaited gold medal in Tokyo.
Daley joined forces with Matty Lee to grab 10m synchro glory but after injury dashed the 26-year-old’s hopes of defending his title, Daley will now be accompanied by new partner Noah Williams in France.
Self-confessed Olympic nut Daley – now competing at his fifth Games since Beijing after bagging three bronze medals in London, Rio and Tokyo – was approached about being part of the Eurosport and Discovery+TV team before his high-profile decision to make a shock comeback.
After being persuaded by his eldest son, Robbie, to return, the four-time world champion can’t wait to combine the two roles at the first Games on European soil since that storied summer in London 12 years ago.
“Before I got back to diving, that was my plan – to be involved in the Olympics in some form of journalistic way,” said Daley, speaking at the London Aquatics Centre on Wednesday.
“Then I was like: ‘Actually, there’s this thing that I want to do and I want to compete.’ They were like: ‘Why not do both? Compete, and then come and do this?’
“I thought: ‘That’s what I’m going to do – I can do my competition and then actually enjoy the Olympics.
“That’s what I’d like to do long-term – I love the Olympics. I’ve never really been a sportsperson and I hate all of that stuff but when it comes to the Olympics, I think there’s something really special about that moment.”
US-based Daley, who was Team GB’s youngest athlete aged 14 at Beijing 2008, was convinced to launch a remarkable return when his son Robbie, now six, told him he wanted to see him dive at the Games after a visit to the US Olympic & Paralympic Museum in Colorado.
And now he’s done it, blazing a trail at a fifth Games having finally got his hands on that elusive gold medal three years ago.
Daley won three consecutive bronzes in the Olympics that followed his precocious debut but clambered to the summit of the podium alongside Lee, who announced he would miss the Games owing to spinal surgery in March, to grab one of Britain’s first golds in Japan.
He and Williams, 24, will bid to defend that title in Paris but Daley admits the pressure is off as he hopes to make more history at La Defense Arena.
“In Beijing, London and Rio I tortured myself as I wanted to do so well so badly,” added Daley, who is married to Dustin Lance Black and has another son, Phoenix Rose, aged one.
“In Tokyo, I finally got to a point with perspective that no matter how I did, I’m going home to a family that loved and supported me. This time around, I’ve got my gold medal, I’ve done everything I’ve wanted to do in the sport so I’m going to enjoy it, soak in the atmosphere, look around and think: ‘Wow – this is what I’ve worked [for] all of my life.’
“Of course, I want to win another medal – but this time, my gold medal is me having my kids there and showing them if you have a dream and set your mind to it, you can get there.”
Watch every moment of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 live only on Discovery+, the streaming home of the Olympics
