Meet Olympic Diver Tom Daley

He's a five-time Olympic champion and has been called the darling of British diving, but who is Tom Daley? The diver extraordinaire has surpassed athletic fame to make a name for himself in pop culture, taking on spokesman duties for juggernaut companies like Gillette and British Gas, launching a successful YouTube channel, and even becoming an advocate for LGBTQ+ rights around the world.

Daley, now a father of two, has had a whirlwind journey from the first time he stepped atop a 10 meter diving platform. Having taken his first step — or stroke — into diving at the age of 7, the 2024 flag-bearer and long-time poster boy for Team GB has reached what many consider to be the apex of his career at the Paris 2024 Olympics. Aside from his big splashes, there is much to celebrate about Daley's transformation from schoolboy to international star. 

Diver Tom Daley made his debut in the world on May 21, 1994 in Plymouth — a port city located in Devon in the southwest of England. He was the first child born to the Daley clan, with his parents Debbie and Rob welcoming two more sons later in life. Daley's brother William was born three years after him, with the baby of the family, Ben, following two years later. 

Like many wunderkinds, Daley was living a normal life until he was scouted by a professional diving coach. While taking part in regular diving lessons, he was plucked out of obscurity and pulled into a competitive team in September of 2002. At the time he was only 7 years old. It was off to the races after that, with Daley winning a silver medal at his first National Novice Championships the following year. 

Controversially, Tom Daley made his Olympic debut at the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing, China when was only 14 years old. This was his first foray into the history books, as at the time, Daley was only the second youngest Brit to ever take part in the Olympics. His inclusion was met with some skepticism, as one headline published in The Telegraph at the time read "Tom Daley 'should not be in Beijing' – Olympics 2008."

Despite concerns over Daley's childhood being subsumed by elite sport, it was clear that the diver had no intentions of stopping his meteoric rise to fame. Although he did not earn a medal at the 2008 Olympic Games, the teenager finished at an astonishing seventh place in the individual 10m platform event and came in at eighth place in the synchronized 10m platform event, and this was only the beginning.

Competing in the 2008 Beijing Olympics changed Tom Daley's life forever. However, while some changes were for the better, some were for the worst. Speaking with The Herald, not long after returning home to Plymouth, England following the Olympic Games, the 14-year-old opened up about some of the bullying he was facing at school. 

"I'd always ignored the 'diver boy' or 'Speedo boy' comments when I came back from Beijing last year, hoping they'd get fed up and stop," Daley said. "The trouble is they haven't, and it's even the younger kids who are joining in." Luckily, in response to his brave admission, the U.K.'s national anti-bullying charity, Beatbullying, came out in support of Daley, telling Newsround, "Young people should be seeing Tom as an inspiration and as a great role model."

Tragically, the man who had once been Tom Daley's greatest champion died in 2011. Rob Daley's untimely death came on the heels of a five-year battle with brain cancer, which didn't stop the loving father from being involved in his son's diving career. At just 17, the young Daley was photographed looking distraught at his father's funeral. 

Looking back on the time he had with his father, Daley told BBC Sport in 2024 that "He [Rob] got to see me compete in 2008 at the Olympics, which is one of the reasons why it was meant to be that I qualified for those Olympics so young, was that he got the chance to see that, because by 2012 he was already gone." Daley seemed choked up, but completed the interview by admitting that he thinks about his father "every day."

Tom Daley lost his father Rob Daley to cancer just 14 months before competing in the 2012 London Olympics. In a heart-breaking public address following his father's tragic death, Daley said, "My dad was an incredibly brave man, completely dedicated to his family, with a love for all ... I hope he will be watching and waving his big Union Jack in London from somewhere else. I love you so much Dad" (via the Independent).

The situation was made all the more tragic by the fact that these 2012 Olympic Games were being held in London, England — the diving prodigy's home nation. However, despite the emotional hardship he was surely facing, Daley managed to walk away with a bronze medal in the individual diving category. He also competed in the 10m synchronized diving event with Pete Waterfield, but the two placed fourth, just out of reach of a medal.

Although Tom Daley had been plugging away at his diving career since he was 7 years old, and had made a name for himself amongst the diving community, it wasn't until his performance at the 2012 Olympic Games that Daley's superstardom began to take a toll on his performance. Having made headlines a few years before with his Olympics debut, Daley was now all grown up and primed for heartthrob status as he made his way onto the 10m platform for the individual diving event that summer. 

Camera bulbs flashed away as Daley attempted his somersaults and twists in pike position off the platform. As a result, the young Olympian was totally distracted by the flashing floodlights and was forced to ask the referee for a re-dive. Thankfully, Daley was granted his second chance and ended up winning the bronze medal that year. 

There are some simple hobbies you can start right away, such as reading or cooking, but diving at an elite level is not one of them. A group of U.K. celebrities learned that the hard way when they signed up to participate in the 2013 competition show "Splash!" Although Gaby Logan and Vernon Kay were the hosts of the short-lived show, it was Olympic champ Tom Daley who was the star attraction. 

Having won a bronze medal at the 2012 Olympics the year before, Daley was an apt choice to serve as the diving coach on the show, which saw several celebs take on diving for the first time ever and then attempt to beat out their competitors in real-life diving competitions judged by professional diving coach Andy Banks and comedian Jo Brand. At is peak, "Splash!" brought in 5.9 million viewers.

However, the competition show was eventually canned after the rising star realized he was unable to fit "Splash!" into his increasingly busy schedule. Two years after its 2014 cancellation, it was also revealed that there were not as many protections in place behind-the-scenes as there should have been, with contestant Rav Wilding announcing in 2016 that he was suing the show after sustaining life-altering injuries during his training.

On December 2, 2013, Tom Daley uploaded a video to his YouTube channel titled "Tom Daley: Something I want to say..." In the video, the diving champion opened up to his audience about his experience of falling in love with a man. In a raw admission straight to camera, the Olympian said, "Come spring this year my life changed massively when I met someone ... that someone is a guy."

Although he didn't name the man at the time, it would later be revealed that it was screenwriter Dustin Lance Black. Daley would eventually admit that he met Black at a party in 2013 and that the feeling he felt could only be described as "love at first sight." Daley was reluctant to label himself in 2013, but later referred to himself as "gay."

In 2015, Tom Daley shocked fans by subtly registering in The Times that he was engaged to his boyfriend of two years, screenwriter Dustin Lance Black. Rather than utilize their publicists, the two celebrities went old school. The announcement read, "The engagement is announced between Tom, son of Robert and Debra Daley of Plymouth, and Lance, son of Jeff Bisch of Philadelphia and Anne Bisch of Lake Providence."

The two officially tied the knot on May 6, 2017 in the gardens of Bovey Castle. The grooms complemented each other in navy and crimson suits, with the London Gay Men's Chorus performing the oh-so fitting song "Marry You" by Bruno Mars during the ceremony. Daley was quick to take to his Instagram to publicize the good news and to share adorable photos of his and Black's big day with his fans and followers.

From the looks of Tom Daley's Instagram account, it would seem that the Olympic diver and his husband Dustin Lance Black have the ideal relationship. However, their union has not been without its controversies. The ideal age gap, according to research, is 0-3 years. However, Daley and Black have an eyebrow-raising 20-year age gap between them. This would have made Daley only 19 years old and Black 39 when the two first met in 2013. 

In addition to their scandalous age gap, the two have also admitted that, like Ross and Rachel's "Friends" relationship timeline, they actually took a break for seven months before reuniting. During this period, Daley confessed to striking up a flirtation with a fan via Snapchat. Following the scandal, Daley told The Sun, "This will absolutely never happen again now that we're getting married." 

Tom Daley is a dad who's killing the parenting game. While Daley and his husband, Dustin Lance Black, normally keep their sons out of the spotlight, the two little ones had an unexpected foray into the international spotlight when the famous tots were photographed cheering on their "Papa" from the stands of the 2024 Paris Olympics. 

On June 27, 2018, Daley and Black welcomed their first son named Robert Ray Black-Daley. Though he goes by the name "Robbie," the diver's first-born son was sweetly named after Daley's father, Rob Daley, who died in 2011 due to complications from brain cancer. The high-profile couple have clearly been intentional about bringing their son into the world, with Daley and Black being very open about their use of a surrogate and egg donor to conceive Robbie. The couple also shared that they do not know who Robbie's biological father is, as both fathers' DNA was used.

In 2023, the couple also announced that they had welcomed a second child, a son named Phoenix Rose Black- Daley. His birthday, it was announced, was March 28, 2023. After being incredibly transparent at each step of their fertility journey with Robbie, the two opted for a more personal journey with Phoenix, keeping specific details to themselves. 

It may come as a surprise, but internationally-known diver Tom Daley did not win his first Olympic gold medal until the 2020 Tokyo Games. The father-of-two had enjoyed a high-profile career before the 2020 Olympics, having stepped atop the medal podium at four previous Olympic Games, but this was the first time Daley got to take a bite out of that hotly-sought-after gold piece. 

This triumph came 13 years after Daley first began his Olympic journey at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Many years and much experience away from that 14-year-old boy who competed in Beijing, Daley finally came full circle when he landed a superb synchronized dive from the 10m platform with his diving partner Matty Lee. Looking back on his crowning moment, Daley told Olympics.com, "I still can't honestly believe what is happening ... I was gone. I was blubbering."

At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, diver Tom Daley went viral online for a surprising reason. It wasn't his impressive twists and turns from the 10m diving platform that blasted Daley all over social media, but images of him knitting on the side-lines that delighted Olympics watchers ... and can we blame him? Knitting and crocheting are considered a beneficial activity for your mental health.

Daley told The Sun that he starting knitting as a way to keep calm amidst the Covid-19 pandemic. The superstar looked back on this adorable moment, saying, "In Tokyo, we weren't allowed to go out, we weren't allowed to do anything or to socialize and there was so much time to overthink things so I ended up doing that [knitting] all the time to get out of my own head." 

Diver Tom Daley is open about his attraction to men, with him announcing his relationship with now-husband Dustin Lance Black the same year the two met. However, it was only later in life when the Olympic champion leveraged this aspect of his personal life into a public advocacy career. In 2022, BBC One released a documentary series titled "Tom Daley: Illegal to Be Me" which saw Daley exploring some of the more homophobic nations in the British Commonwealth and interviewing gay athletes on their lives and coping techniques. 

In an interview with The Guardian, Daley admitted that this project led to a "revelation" about how dire the global situation is for his LGBTQ+ community. Following this documentary project, Daley has become a politicized figure. He is now calling for committees to refuse to allow anti-LGBTQ+ nations to host international sports games.

While some Olympic champions may struggle to explore and develop parts of their identity that are unrelated to their sport, Tom Daley has launched a full-blown second career as a YouTuber. It may seem like all fun and games from the outside, but the reality of a YouTube career means that Daley would have had to hone his skills at extemporaneous speaking, scriptwriting, video editing, and even marketing himself to his audience.

And he must be doing something right, as Daley announced in 2021 that he had reached one million subscribers on his YouTube channel. In a smart branding move, Daley chooses to publicize all aspects of his identity on his channel, filming many videos that show the behind-the-scenes of his training routines and nutrition planning, but also some videos that show himself, his husband, and their two adorable sons enjoying quality family time.

Although Tom Daley has long been a poster boy for the Great British Olympics team, the Brit and his family have now relocated to Los Angeles, California. The move, while a big shake-up for the diver's Union Jack-laden image, is not a huge surprise considering Daley's husband, Dustin Lance Black, is an American who lived for many years in California before meeting his love. 

The big move comes after Black found himself embroiled in a legal scandal where presenter Teddy Edwardes accused the screenwriter of assault at a London nightclub in the summer of 2022. Luckily for the Daley-Black family, a high court judge eventually threw out the case, claiming there was insufficient evidence. Despite their victory, though, it seems the couple were in need of a fresh start — and thus they booked four one-way plane tickets bound for America.

After seeing Tom Daley's dominating performance at the 2024 Paris Olympics, you may be surprised to hear that the legendary diver was close to hanging up his Speedo for good after winning gold at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. He even went two whole years without registering for a competition, but when Daley's eldest son, Robbie, admitted that he was keen to see his "Papa" compete one more time on the Olympic stage, Daley became convinced that he still had an Olympic performance left in him.

It turns out the Brit, and Robbie's, instincts were correct, as Daley won a sparkling silver medal in the synchronized 10m platform event alongside his partner Noah Williams. The joy was written all over Daley's face on the medal podium, as his eyes filled with tears and his jaw fell open before the flashing cameras. Although the pair were unable to surpass the Chinese divers Lian Junjie and Yang Hao, they came in at an impressive second place.

Speaking to BBC following his win, Daley said, "It's just so special. Doing it in front of my son who asked me to come back is so special," referencing Robbie. Although he has yet to officially announce retirement, Daley has not confidently confirmed that he will be competing at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.