Tom Daley has revealed it was a ‘bonus’ winning his Olympic silver medal with his son Robbie proudly watching from the crowd, after reversing his retirement to compete in his fifth games.
The diver, 30, had previously revealed that he would be returning to competitive diving after his eldest son asked to watch him compete in an Olympic Games, and sparked nationwide praise by winning silver with his diving partner Noah Williams.
Speaking to Sam Quek on The Capital Evening Show With Jimmy Hill, Tom shared that little Robbie was his inspiration to win another medal at the Olympics in Paris.
During the event, Tom’s partner Dustin Lance Black was seen cheering him on from the sidelines with their sons Robbie, six, and Phoenix, 16 months.
He said: ‘This year has felt like a bonus really. 19 months ago, I was sitting on my sofa doing nothing, and deciding to come back because my son – he wanted to see me at the Olympics.
Tom Daley has revealed it was a ‘bonus’ winning his Olympic silver medal with his son Robbie proudly watching from the crowd, after reversing his retirement to compete in his fifth games
Tom won a silver medal in the
‘And now to be here with a silver medal, to be diving with Noah and, you know, to be diving in front of my family, it was really special.’
As Sam asked: ‘So that was Robbie who said that?’ Tom added: ‘Yeah, it was Robbie.’
Sam asked: ”So what happened? So, Phoenix is that age now where they’re just starting to learn how to talk – what are you going to do if they decide to say the same thing?’
Tom then continued: ‘Robbie has already cashed in his token – he doesn’t get another one!
‘But I don’t know about Phoenix. Who knows? I don’t know if Phoenix will ever remember me being a diver, because he’s only 16 months.
‘He’s actually 16 months today. He won’t really remember it, but we’ll have lots of photos. He did throw his juice bottle at me in the mix zone from the balcony, but yeah, it was really sweet to have them there.’
Tom and Dustin welcomed their sons via surrogacy and previously revealed they fertilised half of the eggs each – meaning they did not know which one of them was their children’s biological father.
Robbie – who was wearing a ‘Team Daley’ t-shirt featuring his father’s face – was filmed enthusiastically waving a Union Jack flag.
Tom won silver in the 10m synchronized platform event with Noah Williams, who planted a kiss on his teammate’s cheek during the medal ceremony
Meanwhile, Dustin, 50, held onto their youngest son and was pictured waving encouragingly at his husband of seven years.
Tom won silver in the 10m synchronized platform event with Noah Williams, who planted a kiss on his teammate’s cheek during the medal ceremony at the Aquatics Centre on the third day of the games on Monday.
Robert, who was named after Tom’s late father, was also draped with a Union Flag during his dad’s fifth Olympics, the first coming in 2008 when he was just 14.
Tom won his first medal, a bronze at London 2012, followed by a second at Rio 2016.
And he went on to win gold and bronze at the Tokyo Games in 2021.
Tom had married American screenwriter Dustin Lance Black in 2017.
And after Tokyo he moved to the USA with their two sons and effectively retired from diving, but he returned to the sport in 2023, after a two-year-break, and started competition with new dive partner Noah Williams.
This year, Tom chose not to compete as an individual and prioritised the synchronised event instead.
In an interview with BBC Sport, Tom emotionally revealed that his fifth Olympics appearance is ‘for his family’.
He explained: ‘For me, this time around, my Olympic gold medals will be standing on the diving board, looking to my side and seeing my husband, my kids, my mum, my friends, family, aunts, uncles.
‘There’s a lot of people coming to watch. To see them and be able to dive in front of that again will be extremely special.
‘I’m so excited to see my little kids’ faces when I am stood on that diving board. That’s why I’ve come back this year – it’s for them.’
Meanwhile, Tom Daley delved into how stressful it can be to travel with two young children in during an official Olympics press conference earlier this month.
He explained: ‘Luckily, it was a night flight, so Robbie, who travels all the time, was fine because he’s six now, so he’s a bit more like an adult.
‘Phoenix, however, is very much the second child – wriggly, wants to climb everything, jump on everything. He was quiet but I had to like wrangle him the whole time.’
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