Tom Daley Announces Return To Diving—Bring On The Thirst Traps!
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Tom Daley is diving back into…well, diving.
The Olympian announced his intent to return to the sport after two years away via a YouTube video over the weekend.
“In theory I had retired,” he said. “I was like, ‘I’m done. I can’t imagine myself going back and doing it again,’ so that was my time in the pool done.”
But something shifted after Daley visited Colorado Springs, which he didn’t realize was nicknamed Olympic City and home to the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Museum. He took his son, Robbie, to the museum, and a video about training for the competition moved him to tears.
“I hadn’t grieved diving, that I hadn’t been doing it anymore,” he admitted. “Coming out of that museum, something changed in me where I was…I don’t think I was ready to be done. And I don’t feel like I was ready to kind of hang up my trunks and move on with that part of my life, especially when my son, Robbie, said to me, ‘Papa, I want to see you dive at the Olympics.’”
The last time Daley competed at the Olympics was during the Tokyo competition in 2021, where he and Matty Lee won gold medals in the men’s synchronized 10m platform. He also came in third in men’s individual 10m platform diving.
Although he seems open to just returning to diving recreationally if that’s where his path takes him, he also confirmed that “Paris 2024 is definitely a goal.” Either way, he hopes to set a good example for his children about working hard and “doing something that you love to do.”
“That has kind of lit a new flame, a fire inside of me, to want to see where is goes,” Daley added. “Never say never.”
"I don't feel I was ready to hang up my trunks!" | Tom Daley | I'm back on youtube! I Tom Daley
