The smile of the young boy in front of the camera was a sign that he was happy, but it was clear that everyone could see his steeliness.In 2005, Tom Daley stated to BBC that he wanted to win a gold medal at the Olympics. He was holding a photo he had made, a drawing of him doing a handstand at the 10m diving platform during the London Games. It was seven years ago."If I didn't win, it would motivate me to go to the next Olympics and to get that medal."Daley was only 11 years old when he announced that mission.Sixteen years later, his dream was finally realized. He and Matty Le secured the historic 10m platform Olympic title in synchronization at Tokyo 2020.During the medal ceremony, tears welled up from his eyes as he saw the enormity of the event.It was a long road. This is Tom Daley's story to win a gold medal.He has many accomplishments, including being world champion at age 15 and twice winning Olympic silver.He was bullied in school as a child. His father, who was 40 years old, died in 2011 at his home. Before coming out, he was afraid of the consequences.Although Daley is Britain’s most decorated diver and has a worldwide reputation, he is also Britain's most famous diver. Daley is a role model for the LGBTQ+ community and one of the most prominent gay athletes in sport. During his life under the spotlight, he has had several media controversies.He is now 27 years old and a father.He told BBC Sport that if my son spoke like this at the same time, I would be like "wow, calm yourself, take your sweet time, and enjoy it," he said. It was clear that there was something inside me that desired it so badly.Tokyo, his fourth Olympics, was arguably his last chance at claiming it. He still had the same dream, but parenthood and his partner gave him a fresh perspective on both triumphs and tragedies.The diver recalls, "I thought that I would win an Olympic gold medal in Rio. But it turned out to be the exact opposite." It felt like the end."Now, my world and structure are my family. It was my husband who told me that my story wasn’t over."Robbie, our son, needed to see me win an Olympic medal. It was a wonderful feeling that I can now say that my son saw me become Olympic champion, even though it wasn't on TV.Daley has lived and breathed the Olympics for his entire life. Daley vividly remembers the 11-year-old effort he made to see the men's 10m platform synchronized final at Athens 2004 when Leon Taylor and Pete Waterfield won Silver for Britain.He laughs and recalls, "We were on holiday with our caravan and everyone else was going to the children's clubs but I was determined not to go to them all so I was looking out from the window with my aerial to try and get a better signal."Daley had already gained more attention four years later than any of his idols. At 13 years old, he had qualified for Beijing 2008. Cameras were trained on every move.Although he didn't compete for China's medals, the crowd enjoyed watching him and cheered on his 'baby Daley. He was a star. It wasn't easy back home.He says, "Some people at school were so happy to see me, but then others started to be really terrible and I was bullied.""For a long while, I kept it quiet, but eventually, I couldn't keep it down, and it took so much of my mental energy that I was unable to train."It got so bad that I couldn't talk about diving. I was afraid of being mocked every time someone said something nice to me."Daley wanted to be home-schooled. He was instead offered the opportunity to join Plymouth College at the end of his first year in GCSEs, a few months before the 2009 World Championships.The 15-year-old, who had been reenergized, was promoted from a medal contender to a fully grown champion in Rome.Although his 10m platform performance was impressive, the hour that followed was even more remarkable. When Daley recalls the now-famous press conference, he smiles but rolls his eyes.Daley with his gold medal from the 2009 World ChampionshipsHe recalled that he saw his dad with a BBC journalist sneaking in and had this beaming smile.He raised his hand and said, "I'm Rob, Tom’s dad and I want to cuddle." I can still remember thinking, 'Oh my God ...'".As Daley navigates his way through the camera, you can hear him muttering "dad! This is so embarrassing!" as he tries to make his way past the cameras and back to his father."I can still remember him saying, "Tom, I took you to all your training sessions, taught your to ride a bicycle, and changed your nappies when I was a child. His son becoming world champion was his proudest moment."When I think back, it was a very special time as we had achieved it together. Now, as a father, I fully understand why he was so emotional."Few people knew that Rob was suffering from a brain tumour. He was able to appreciate these special moments and the precious time he spent with his son.The family discovered that Rob had not been in remission three years after Daley's victory.Rob passed away peacefully on Friday, 27 May 2011, 14 months before the London 2012 Olympics."In a way we wouldn't be as close if he didn't have that brain tumour. Daley says that they developed a great connection."The saddest thing about it is that he kept asking me questions over the past few days: 'Have you got tickets for London 2012? Are we eligible to enter?"He was so happy to be able to watch me compete, and it's surreal thinking about all the things that he hasn't seen."People grieve in many ways. Daley, looking back more than a decade later, believes that he didn't manage it in the best of ways at the time."My father died on Friday, I was at training the Saturday morning and the funeral was on Wednesday." He shakes his head and says, "I left the wake halfway through so that I could travel and compete at the national championships.""Now, as an older diver, there are more important matters to life than diving. But then, I realized that the London Olympics was something my dad and me had always hoped for and there was every motivation to be there in 2012.Daley, who had lost his father, took on a new role as "man of house" and drove his brothers and sisters to school and rugby training.As he entered his home Games, there was constant media scrutiny about his mental state. British Diving's performance director added pressure.Alexei Evangulov made it clear that he needed to lose weight. He also publicly criticized the diver, suggesting that he might be 'Britain’s Anna Kournikova'. This refers to the Russian ex-tennis player and model who was disowned by the media.Daley achieved a bronze medal despite "so much pressure" and secured funding for his squad for the four years to Rio 2016."Looking back, I often wonder: 'Was it my time? It could have been gold. He says that it could have been gold.Daley gave tribute to his father during his post-event interviews but only allowed himself to grieve fully in the months that followed."It all hit me right after the Olympics. He says that there was a huge crash."I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with myself anymore, London 2012 was all that I had in my mind - and for a few weeks I quit diving."Daley was visiting a therapist at this point to help him overcome his "terror" when performing his "twister" dive. Daley was frightened by the flashing camera lights and requested a re-dive during the Olympic final.He also suffered from a chronic triceps injury tear. He was frustrated by fake news stories about his buying habits in the media. He was aware that certain people wanted to 'out him' at a time when his thoughts were still about his sexuality.Daley, then 19, returned to the 2013 World Championships. He re-torched his triceps and finished sixth. Then, he took a trip down to Los Angeles. It was a turning point in his life.Daley and his son Robbie, along with Dustin Lance Black, their husband - they were wed in 2017He says, "The hardest thing I discovered growing up was that there were so many conflicting thoughts or feelings, and that I had to live it all out in public.""Figuring out your sexuality can be difficult, and it is even more difficult when you are subject to constant scrutiny. People ask constant questions and try to figure things out."While in the United States, Daley met Dustin Lance Black, his Oscar-winning screenwriter, producer, and screenwriter. His shoulders were soon freed from a "huge burden".He says, "Meeting Lance in 2013 and then coming out in 2013, changed everything." It allowed me to stop worrying and stop being afraid, and just be me.After a move from London to Jane Figueiredo, his medals started to flow again. Following a third consecutive Commonwealth gold at Glasgow 2014, he was awarded a team title and an individual bronze at 2015 Worlds.Daley was one of the favourites for gold in Rio 2016, and he entered what he considered his "peak Olympics". Daley warmed up for his individual event by taking a bronze with Dan Goodfellow, his new synchronised 10m partner.He competed in the same event again with his team-mates Jack Laugher, Chris Mears and became Britain's first ever Olympic diving champions. Chris Mears also added a 3m silver.Daley says, "When Jack won the Olympic gold medal, I was like "OMG that's my biggest dream" so I didn't have my escape plan right and had no mental break.""After Jack won silver, I was like, this is my chance now!"Matty Lee, Daley managed nerves and pressure during their last two routines at Tokyo 2020 to win the gold medalAlthough Daley set a new Olympic record of 571.85 during the preliminaries it was not enough to make the finals. He still can't explain what happened five years later.Daley, who was uncharacteristically flustered when he viewed the footage for the first time, says that his nervous system, erm... my mind and body connection wasn't, orm, there.""I've sort of lost all sense in this and it's not even funny to me." Sometimes, I feel like I should have gone for a longer ice bath or taken a recovery drink, but other times, you have to admit that it was a bad day.He cried in post-event interviews and promised to return to the Tokyo Games. He would redeem himself sooner than expected. Twelve months later, he put in arguably his best performance to win the first individual world title since 2009.He used the platform victory at the 2018 Commonwealth Games the following year to voice his opinions on issues other than sport.His husband's activism on LGBTQ+ issues inspired him to call for Commonwealth countries to decriminalise homosexuality. He stated that it was illegal for athletes participating in 37 of 53 nations at the Games (70%), to have a relationship or sexual relationship with another person of the same sex.He says, "We must talk about these issues and shine a spotlight on them in order for us to get change."Daley: Homophobia is a major problem in sportDaley suffered from pneumonia, concussion, and a stress fracture in that same year. He was unsure of his future as a diver, but Robbie's arrival restored him to health.He says that 2016 felt like the end. "Now, I wish I could go back to tell myself: You're going going to get married and have a beautiful boy and things will get better.But at 27, the daily impact on his body of throwing it from 10m and hitting water at 35 mph has taken its toll. Daley, who was once the 'baby of the team', now calls himself the "grandad".In an effort to extend his career, the five-time European champion has taken up yoga, mindfulness, and gyrotonics."I knew going in Rio that if it had been the Olympic gold medal, it would have be my last dive," Daley states. He will compete both individually and with Matty Lee, his synchronized partner in Tokyo.He is now "almost relieved" that he has had five more years of "bonus" in the sport, and that he arrived in Japan "mentally strong" than ever before.So, Tokyo. Daley has long talked about his preference to face Chinese opponents in outdoor venues, where there is more variation to the competition, such as sun, wind and fluctuating crowd noises.The Tokyo Olympic Aquatics Centre, which is indoors and has no spectators, was a perfect venue for East Asian athletes to dominate their style. He previously described it as "almost robotic."As expected, the Olympic and current world champions Chen Aisen & Cao Yuan started the synchronized 10m final strong and appeared to be moving clear of their competitors at the halfway stage.Daley curled his lips as the scoreboard showed the situation. They were good but not enough to win gold. Lee and he shared a quick glance and nodded. They both knew they had more to offer.The fourth round saw a spectacular dive, and the British team edged within one point of their competitors with their penultimate routine.In the final round, Daley and Lee made their best dive at 101.01Leon Taylor, the 2004 Olympic silver medallists, exuberated on commentary calling the gold for Britain, before pausing to realise that although it was unlikely, it was possible from the Chinese.Daley was anxious. Daley was nervous.He was anxious and jumped like a child. He had been there before, waiting for the judges to decide his fate. But this time it was different. He was likely to lose his only chance at gold.As the Chinese total was revealed, Daley jumped onto Lee and the tears started to flow. Daley was not the only one who wept, his teammates, coaches, and all of Team GB's support staff did too.He said, "I have been diving for over 20 years and I still can't believe it's happened," moments after he received the medal he had longed for since childhood.It was a win for two British divers, and the first ever Olympic title for the country in the synchronised 10-meter event.It was so much more.He was also completing a journey that he started with his father more than two decades ago. It was also a statement on the importance of inclusion, and how to overcome adversity.Daley stated, "When I was little, I felt like an outcast and different." "I felt like I wasn't going to be anything because I wasn't who society expected me to be.""I hope that young children will feel less scared, afraid and alone when they see LGBT athletes at the Olympic Games.""No matter who you are or where you came from, you can be an Olympic champion. Because I did it.This feature was published for the first time on 19 July.
