Tokyo 2020: Tom Daley wishes his late father could have seen his Olympic success

Tom Daley with his fourth Olympic medal. Credit: PA images

Plymouth diver Tom Daley has won his fourth Olympic medal and said he wishes his late father was here to see his success.

The 27-year-old, who ended his 13-year wait for an Olympic gold medal when he won the synchronised 10 metres platform last week with Matty Lee, came third in the solo 10 metres event on Saturday (7 August).

Despite a near-faultless display in the final, Daley secured bronze behind Chinese pair Yang Jian, who took silver and Cao Yuan who won the gold.

The West Country olympian has now made history as the first British diver to win four olympic medals.


Daley made his Olympic debut aged 14 and now has three bronze medals and one gold medal from his efforts at the Games over the years.

Speaking after winning the bronze on Saturday, the Plymouth diver said he will now have a break and a "couple of margaritas".

He told the BBC: "I just want to say a massive thank you to everyone at home, and in particular to Lance, my husband.

"He has been my rock throughout this whole thing and has put up with me and sacrificed so much, moved to the UK so I can train.

"My mum, and of course my dad.

"I wish that my dad was here to have seen me at these Olympic Games winning two Olympic medals.

"He would be jumping up, and he'd probably be in the pool by now.

"I'm so overwhelmed with all the love and support back home."

Daley and Lee after winning gold. Credit: PA

Daley's father Robert died aged 40 from a brain tumour in 2011.

Earlier this week, the diver joined a call for donations to fund a "groundbreaking" trial of a cannabis-based drug to treat an aggressive form of cancer.

The Brain Tumour Charity has launched an appeal to help raise #450,000 needed to fund the new three-year trial, which is due to begin recruiting some 232 patients at 15 hospitals across the UK early next year.

Following Daley's success on Saturday, his husband tweeted: "Are you kidding me?! Another Olympic medal! Two for two!

"So so so proud of you my love! Now bring those medals home my sweet champion."


Jack Buckner, chief executive of British Swimming, said he is "delighted" with Daley's bronze medal, adding that the diver has "been through so much behind the scenes".

Daley revealed he could not walk just weeks ago after undergoing knee surgery in June and admitted he was struggling to even make it to Japan.

Mr Buckner praised the team that got Daley ready for the Games, telling the PA news agency: "I think one of the things that maybe we haven't said enough of this Games is how great our sports science and medicine team's been to get him back.

"It's a massive setback to have an operation that close to the Games and yet he came out and got a gold and a bronze, so it's fantastic."

Mr Buckner hailed Daley as a "fabulous" role model and praised him for being able to "reset" after winning gold at the start of the Games and coming back to win bronze, describing it as "an amazing achievement".


The diver has also impressed onlookers with his expertise in an unlikely pursuit in Tokyo.

After being pictured knitting in the stands at the Games, he revealed a Team GB cardigan complete with the Japanese for "Tokyo" on its front, the Team GB and Olympics emblems across its back, and a Union flag on its sleeve.

He shared images of the patriotic apparel on TikTok and his Instagram account madewithlovebytomdaley - which is dedicated to knitting and crochet.

After winning gold, Daley said he hopes his victory acts as an inspiration for the LGBT community.

"I hope that any young LGBT person out there can see that no matter how alone you feel right now, you are not alone. You can achieve anything," he said.

The Briton had an overall score in the 10 metre platform of 548.25, while Cao Yuan won gold with 582.35 and second placed Yanh Jian scored 580.4.

In winning bronze, Daley knocked Team GB's overall medal tally up to 60.