Tom Daley's Biography

Who is Tom Daley?

At just 14 years and 81 days old at the start of the Beijing Olympics, Tom Daley was Britain's second youngest male ever to enter the Olympics, only beaten by Kenneth Lester, a cox at the 1960 Olympics, who was aged 13 years and 144 days.

Tom Daley qualified for the Beijing Olympics in February 2008 at the FINA World Cup when he was seventh in the men's individual 10m platform event.

2008 continued to be a good year for Tom Daley. In March 2008, still only 13-years-old, he won the European Men's 10m Platform Individual title, beating the current World Champion Gleb Galperin and World Cup Champion, Sascha Klein.

At 5ft 2in and 7st 7lb, Tom Daley was significantly younger, shorter and lighter than the competition.

When not diving, Tom Daley went to school at Eggbuckland Community College in Plymouth, however he gained a scholarship to Plymouth College.

His father Rob was an electrician but was diagnosed with a brain tumour in 2006. Unable to work, Rob devoted himself to supporting his son, whilst Tom's mother Debbie worked part-time at financial administration at a local nursery.

His first major diving success was when he became the under 18 Platform champion at the Nationals in June 2004.

In 2007 Tom Daley won the BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year.

The Beijing Olympics did not start well for Tom Daley when he and Blake Aldridge finished in last place in the 10m synchronised diving.

Later on in the Olympics, Tom Daley finished seventh in the 10m individual platform final.

On 7 February 2009, Tom Daley set a personal best score and retained his men's 10m platform title at the British Diving Championships.

In March 2009, Tom Daley came third in the men's 10m Platform at the second leg of the Fina Diving World Series in China.

In April 2009, Tom Daley's father revealed that Tom Daley had found a new diving partner, Max Brick.

On 19 April 2009, Tom Daley won a silver medal in the third round of the World Cup with a personal best of 540.85 points in his six dives in the final of the 10m platform.

Earlier, Tom Daley had revealed that he had been bullied at school.

On 10 May 2009, Tom Daley won his first gold of 2009 in the men's 10m platform in the World Series in Fort Lauderdale.

Previously, Tom Daley and Max Brick won silver at the world series in the 10m synchronised event.

On 21 July 2009, Tom Daley won the gold medal in the 10m platform at his first World Championships.

In October 2010, Tom Daley and Max Brick won gold in the men's 10m synchro platform at the Commonwealth Games.

In December 2010, Tom Daley won the BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year accolade for the third time.

In January 2011, Tom Daley paired with Peter Waterfield, in their competitive debut, won National Cup gold in the 10m synchro.

In May 2011, his father died.

In April 2012, Tom Daley won a silver medal at the Diving World Series in Moscow. The previous month, Daley had also gained silver in the 10m platform final at the World Series in Dubai.

Earlier in 2012, Tom Daley had been criticised by GB performance director Alexei Evangulov.

In the London Olympics in 2012, Tom Daley won a bronze medal in the 10m platform.

In January 2013, ITV started broadcasting Splash in which Tom Daley was a mentor and judge.

In July 2013, Tom Daley came sixth in the 10m platform World Championship final and revealed that he was to consult a psychologist to overcome his issues diving from 10m.

In December 2013, Tom Daley made a video, revealing he was in a relationship with a man.

In July 2016, ITV announced that it had commissioned a documentary Tom Daley: Diving For Gold, following Tom Daley between the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games.

Rio in 2016 was Tom Daley's third Olympic Games.

On day 3 of the Rio Olympics, Tom Daley and Dan Goodfellow won bronze in the 10m synchro event.

In May 2017, Tom Daley married Dustin Lance Black.

In February 2018, they announced that they were expecting a baby.

Their son Robert Ray was born in California in June 2018.

On 20 July 2019, Tom Daley lost his World Championship crown, finishing seventh in the 10m platform final.

In the Tokyo Olympics of 2021, Tom Daley finally won Olympic gold when he and Matty Lee won the synchronised 10m platform event.

In 2024, in the lead up to the Olympics, Tom Daley and Noah Williams had a number of strong performances. In May 2024, it was confirmed that Tom would compete in the 10m synchronised platform event with Noah at the Olympics. They ended up winning silver.

Shortly afterwards, he confirmed his retirement from diving.