Tom Daley wins bronze medal in individual 10m platform at Tokyo Olympics

Words: Will Stroude; Photography: Mark Cant

Tom Daley has won bronze in the men’s individual 10m platform at the Tokyo Olympics.

The Team GB diver, 27, added a second medal to his Tokyo 2020 collection in Saturday’s final, having also won gold in the 10m synchro with Matty Lee 12 days ago.

Daley, who had declared he was “incredibly proud” to be “a gay man and also an Olympic champion” following that gold medal win, delivered another podium-worthy to bring his lifetime Olympic medal total to four, from four Games.

Chinese pair Cao Yuan and Yang Jian took gold and silver respectively.

Plymouth-born Tom previously won bronze in the individual 10m platform at London 2012 at the age of 18, but crashed out in the semi-finals at Rio 2016, where he had widely been seen as a gold medal contender. 

He also won bronze in the men’s 10m sychro with Dan Goodfellow at Rio 2016.

Speaking to press following his gold medal win almost two weeks ago, Tom reflected on the importance of LGBTQ representation at the world’s most prestigious sporting competition.

Photography: Mark Cant

“When I was younger I didn’t think I’d ever achieve anything because of who I was. To be an Olympic champion now just shows that you can achieve anything”, he told assembled journalists from countries including Russia and China, which have poor records when it comes to LGBTQ equality. 

The married father-of-one continued: “In terms of out athletes, there are more openly out athletes at these Olympic Games than any Olympic Games previously. I came out in 2013 and when I was younger I always felt like the one that was alone and different and didn’t fit. There was something about me that was never going to be as good as what society wanted me to be.”

He added: “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.”