Team GB legend Tom Daley announces his retirement from diving after winning a silver medal at this summer’s Paris Olympics.
Daley, 30, was selected as one of Team GB’s flagbearers, alongside rower Helen Glover, at the opening ceremony ahead of his fifth time competing at an Olympic Games.
After making his Olympic debut aged just 14 at the Beijing Games in 2008, Daley has established himself as one of the most recognisable faces in British sport.
The silver Daley won alongside Noah Williams in the men’s synchronised 10m competition was the fifth medal of his long Olympic career, after three bronzes and the gold he claimed in Tokyo three years ago.
According to reports, Daley revealed that he had already made the decision to call it quits before adding another medal to his sizeable collection in the French capital this summer.
‘It feels very, very surreal. I felt so incredibly nervous going into this, knowing it was my last Olympics,’ Daley said.
‘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 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.’
After representing Great Britain for over half of his life, an ’emotional’ Daley said it ‘feels like the right time’ to retire.
