UK's Olympic hero Tom Daley retires: The man who busted world records and phobia ‘dai-ly'

The United Kingdom’s star diver and Olympic flagbearer, Tom Daley, is used to the weight of public opinion. The world remembers a 10-year-old Daley diving gracefully into the pool at the British national junior platform title in 2004, one that he swiftly won. Thus began his long, winding journey to Olympic glory.

One of the world’s most celebrated divers, Daley has one Olympic gold, silver, and three bronze medals to his name apart from being the poster boy of British diving. He once had an 80-foot-tall banner put up at a Cardiff departmental store.

On 12 August 2024, Daley announced retirement, letting the curtains fall on a glorious career in which he saw some highs and lows, even more dramatic than his awe-inspiring dives.

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"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," Daley reportedly said in an interview with British Vogue.

Early mornings at the pool

A young spiky-haired boy diving and then floating back up is a sight that is familiar to people across the globe.

Daley participated in the 2008 Beijing Olympics and finished seventh in the individual 10 m platform competition.

At the 2012 Olympics, he won the hearts of Britain and the world by winning an individual bronze medal.

The British sensation finally won the coveted Olympic gold alongside Matty Lee in the men’s 10 M synchronised competition at Tokyo 2020.

A five-minute, twenty-six-second YouTube video clip posted at 10:59 AM, eleven years ago, shows a young Daley looking directly into the camera while resting on a Union Jack-printed cushion.

“I’m dating a guy, and I couldn’t be happier,” says a confident Daley, speaking publicly about his queerness for the first time.

“I feel like now I'm ready and I wanted to do it, and people think, What will your dad say or your dad would have said? I mean, he always said to me, As long as you're happy, I'm happy,” says Daley, while knowingly breaking LGBTQIA+ stereotypes with an uncanny innocence.

The video now has 13,122,502 views, and with the legend’s retirement, the count will only go up.

Knitting his way to glory

With deft fingers and intense concentration, Tom Daley was frequenton the stands at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics with the image of him sitting alone, due to Covid protocols, steadily knitting a scarf went viral. It prompted discussions about the gender binary and led to gender roles being broken across the world.

Hordes of Twitter users rose up against the diver with queerphobic hate. But many also came out in his support, saying that he was breaking boundaries and easing the pressure off young men across the world.

If an Olympic gold medalist can knit and openly wear bright colours, why can’t a young Indian living in New Delhi?

Daley frequently travels the world but also supports queer rights in countries that criminalise it.

At the onset of the Paris Olympic Games, Daley posted a cheekily captioned “Six boys, 5 rings” picture of him surrounded by other decorated divers. The tongue-in-cheek picture was just the latest in the long list of double-meaning yet inspiring pictures that Daley regularly posts from the world’s greatest sporting events.

Daley’s social media provides an insider’s look into the life of an Olympian and frequently features dispatches from his travels across the world.

His life with husband Dustin Lance Black and kids Robbie and Phoenix attracts likes and comments from millions across the world.

People now have an overt example of how queerness and sporting glory intersect.

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Breaking boundaries in a divided world

Daley’s unique personality, coupled with the echelons of sporting glory, makes the diver increasingly relevant in a world that hates Olympic gold medallists Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting for their gender.

The world today not only requires out and proud queer people but also out-and-proud sportspersons.

Daley's legacy

Daley is leaving behind a career that will not only inspire millions of young divers but give countless young queers across the world the courage to come out and demand not sympathy but equity.

The splash that the 30-year-old has made in the world will not only be rainbow-hued but will also create ripples that will echo for generations to come.

(Disclaimer: The writer's views do not represent those of WION or ZMCL. Nor does WION or ZMCL endorse the views of the writer.)