'It's hard to talk': Tom Daley gets emotional after announcing his retirement from diving

Tom Daley became emotional on his return to the UK after revealing he would retire from competitive diving, as ITV News' Antoine Allen reports

Tom Daley became emotional when speaking to ITV News about his retirement from competitive diving following the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

The 30-year-old, who has won five Olympic medals, including gold at Tokyo 2021 and silver in Paris, has revealed he is calling time on his career.

Daley arrived back in the UK on Monday to crowds of cheering fans at St Pancras station, and said it was "hard to talk" because diving had "meant so much to me for so long."

Speaking to ITV News, he said: "This has meant too much to me for so long.

"I wasn't expecting all of this so it's quite overwhelming.

"It's hard to talk because... it's my last time."

Daley added a fifth Olympic medal to his collection with silver in the 10m synchro event in Paris.

Five-time Olympic medallist Tom Daley, who has announced his retirement from diving. Credit: PA

Speaking to British Vogue about his retirement, he said: “It feels very, very surreal. I felt so incredibly nervous going into this, knowing it was my last Olympics.”

Daley added: “There was a lot of pressure and expectations. I was eager for it to be done.

“But when I walked out, and saw my husband (Lance) 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."

He added: “It was emotional at the end, up there on the platform, knowing it was going to be my last competitive dive.

“But 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's first Olympic games came in 2008, when the then 14-year-old took part in diving in Beijing.

Tom Daley after winning bronze at London 2012. Credit: PA

As the youngest competitor there, and the youngest ever European champion, the expectation for success was massive. Daley finished dead last in the synchronised diving event and seventh individually.

While it wasn't the fairytale finish that he had hoped for at his debut Games, the momentum began to build when the Olympics came to London in 2012.

Billed as the poster boy for the Olympics, the run-up to the Games was tough on Daley - with his father and biggest supporter dying just a few months before competing.

Daley however got his hands on a medal, taking bronze.

Expectation hit its peak in 2016 when Daley prepared to compete in Brazil. He followed up his synchronised bronze with another bronze medal.

His gold came in the 10m synchronised event alongside Matty Lee in Tokyo and he was back to defend his title this summer after being convinced by his son Robbie to return to the sport.

Upon winning a silver medal alongside Noah Williams, Daley said: “Doing it in front of my son who asked me to come back is so special I now have one of every colour.”

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