Tom Daley Shares Inspiring Message After First Olympic Gold Win

Olympian Tom Daley Shares Inspiring Message for LGBTQ+ Youth After Gold Medal Win

By Sara Barnes on July 27, 2021

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British diver Tom Daley won his first Olympic gold medal at the Tokyo 2020 games in the synchronized 10-meter diving competition. The accomplishment, achieved alongside his diving partner Matty Lee, breaks a 21-year-long winning streak held by China. While the win is reason enough for Daley to celebrate, he’s using the moment to speak on LGBTQ+ visibility at the Olympic games.

“You know there are more openly out LGBT athletes at this Olympic Games than any other Olympic Games previously,” Daley said when speaking to the press. “I came out in 2013—December 2013. When I was younger I always felt that I was the one that was alone and different and didn't fit in, that there was something about me that was never going to be as good as society wanted me to be.”

Daley sees his win as a way to inspire younger LGBTQ+ folks and show that anything is possible for them. “I hope that any young LGBT person out there can see that no matter how alone you feel right now, you are not alone and you can achieve anything and there is a whole lot of your chosen family ready to support you. I think it's one of those things that I'm incredibly proud to say: that I am a gay man and also an Olympic champion.”

“I feel incredibly proud to say I am a gay man and also an Olympic champion.”

Gold medal winner Tom Daley says he hopes his performance will inspire young LGBT people to realise “you can achieve anything”.

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— LBC (@LBC) July 26, 2021

The gold medal marks Daley’s third Olympic medal. Previously, he won bronze in 2012 and 2016. “I thought I was going to win an Olympic gold medal in Rio [2016], and that turned out the complete opposite by a long shot,” he said. “And it was my husband who said to me that my story wasn't finished, and my son or child—we didn't know at the time—needed to be there to watch me win an Olympic gold medal.”

Although Daley’s husband—screenwriter Dustin Lance Black–and their son, Robert, couldn’t be there in person to watch, Daley shared their reaction in a YouTube video he made after winning his gold. Scroll down to watch the heartwarming footage.