55 Facts About Tom Daley

Thomas Robert Daley was born on 21 May 1994 and is a British diver and television personality.

Tom Daley is an Olympic bronze medallist in the 2012 platform event, the 2016 synchronised event, and the 2020 platform event, making him the first British diver to win four Olympic medals.

Tom Daley competes in team events, winning the inaugural mixed team World title in 2015.

Tom Daley is a one-time Olympic champion, 3-time World Champion, a 2-time junior World Champion, a 5-time European champion and 4-time Commonwealth champion.

Tom Daley started diving at the age of seven and is a member of Plymouth Diving Club, where his talent was identified early, and made an impact in national and international competitions from age nine.

Tom Daley represented Great Britain at the 2008 Summer Olympics where he was Britain's youngest competitor, age fourteen, and the youngest from any nation to participate in a final.

Tom Daley was born on 21 May 1994 at Derriford Hospital in Plymouth, Devon, England, the son of Debbie and Robert Tom Daley.

Tom Daley was spotted by a coach, taking part in regular diving lessons, and was placed in a competitive squad in September 2002.

Tom Daley met the qualification standard for the 2006 Commonwealth Games, but was not selected for the England team because of his age.

From age 11 to 14 Tom Daley attended Eggbuckland Community College in Plymouth, Devon.

Tom Daley was praised in the media for speaking out about his problem.

Tom Daley was offered a full scholarship to board at independent school Brighton College, but his father turned this down due to the distance from home, and entered negotiations with local independent school Plymouth College, which had offered him a "very significant scholarship".

Tom Daley took his GCSEs in small batches to fit around his diving commitments.

Tom Daley persuaded supermodel Kate Moss to pose for a recreation of an original portrait by David Hockney, as part of a GCSE photography project recreating great works of art, after meeting her on a photo shoot for the Italian version of Vogue.

Tom Daley obtained eight A* grades and one A in his GCSEs.

In 2012, Tom Daley finished his two-year A-level studies in mathematics, Spanish and photography.

Tom Daley decided not to undertake an International Baccalaureate course because of the pressures he faced in his preparation for the 2012 Olympics.

Tom Daley received an A* in his Photography A-level, and an A in his Spanish and Maths A-levels.

In January 2007, at the age of twelve, Tom Daley was given a special dispensation to compete at the 2007 Australian Youth Olympic Festival.

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

Tom Daley was considered a medal prospect for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London from this time, and was one of the British Olympians being tracked through the years leading up to London 2012 by the BBC television series Olympic Dreams.

Two weeks later, Tom Daley won his first medals on the FINA circuit, winning a bronze in the individual platform competition and a silver in synchro at the Madrid Grand Prix.

In March 2008, Tom Daley became the youngest person to win a gold medal at the European Championships, held in Eindhoven.

Tom Daley finished second in the category "B" platform competition with 549.60 points, between China's Qiu Bo and Wu Dongliang.

Tom Daley came second in the 3-metre springboard competition in the same category with 485.25 points, sandwiched between the two Chinese divers, Wu Dongliang and Wang Peng.

In February 2009, Tom Daley retained his individual British 10m championship, setting a competition personal best score of 517.55 points, 133.45 points ahead of the second-placed diver.

Tom Daley was unable to defend his 10m synchronized title, as his dive partner Blake Aldridge had been injured in a brawl at a nightclub several days before the championships and was unable to dive.

Tom Daley won the individual event in a new personal best of 554.90, scoring a perfect set of seven 10s for one of his dives.

Tom Daley took part in the 3m springboard diving competition and finished in 9th place.

On 12 October 2010, Tom Daley attended the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, India.

In November 2010, Tom Daley was announced as a nominated sportsman for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2010 and the BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year 2010.

Tom Daley won BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year 2010 for the third time in his career, and is the first person to receive this award three times.

On 27 July 2011, Tom Daley took the first dive in London's newly built Olympic Park Aquatics Centre marking the one year countdown until the games begin.

Three weeks later, in the Moscow event, Tom Daley won silver in the individual platform event, while the pairing finished fifth in the synchro.

In May 2012, Tom Daley regained the European 10-metre platform title when he won gold at the Eindhoven championships with a score of 565.05 points, 49.65 ahead of Viktor Minibaev in silver position.

At the 19th FINA World Junior Diving Championships, held in October 2012 in Adelaide, Australia, Tom Daley led a strong British team and rather unexpectedly won the Boys "A" 3m synchronized springboard competition together with Jack Laugher, who had won the individual 3m competition, they had had little practice together.

Tom Daley was warned by British Swimming chief executive David Sparkes that taking part in the series would risk damaging his chances of winning an Olympic gold medal in the future.

Tom Daley did not compete in the 10m synchro platform event, as his partner Peter Waterfield had lost his funding following this Olympiad, and his future synchro partner had yet to be determined.

In training for the 2013 World Championships, in Barcelona, Tom Daley suffered a torn triceps for the third time, and only competed following intense medical attention and painkilling injections; he finished the individual 10m competition in 6th place.

At the beginning of 2014 Tom Daley moved his training base from the Life Centre in Plymouth to the London Aquatics Centre at the Olympic Park in east London, with a new coach, Jane Figueiredo.

At the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Tom Daley won a silver medal in the men's synchronized 10m platform with diving partner James Denny and gold in the men's 10m platform, with 516.55 points, retaining his title from the Commonwealth Games in Delhi in 2010.

At the British championships held in his old home pool in Plymouth, Tom Daley won the individual 10m platform title for the fifth time, with 493.70 points, ahead of 14-year-old Matthew Dixon on 427.15, and Matty Lee on 413.20.

At the World Championships held in Kazan, Russia, Tom Daley won the gold medal with Rebecca Gallantree in the inaugural team event competition.

At the 2016 FINA Diving World Series, which consisted of four competitions, Tom Daley earned six medals.

Tom Daley partnered with Matty Lee starting in October 2018 in the men's synchronized 10-metres platform.

At the 2021 FINA Diving World Cup, which was held in Japan as an official test event for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Tom Daley won his first World Cup gold with Matty Lee in synchronized 10m platform.

Tom Daley's channel covers various topics such as vlogs, exercise and food.

On 2 December 2013, Tom Daley released a YouTube video announcing that he had been in a relationship with a man since early that year.

Tom Daley and Black met at an industry event, with Tom Daley later saying that it was "a real love-at-first-sight thing".

Television coverage of diving events frequently showed Tom Daley knitting, in the stands, while he watched other athletes compete.

Tom Daley maintains a separate Instagram account dedicated to his knitting and crochet projects.

In 2015, Tom Daley became a patron of the LGBT+ charity Switchboard and collaborated with YouTuber Calum McSwiggan to relaunch the charity under its new name.

In October 2017, Tom Daley hosted the Virgin Holidays Attitude Awards for the first time.

Tom Daley's book choice was Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by JK Rowling and his luxury item was an oven.

Tom Daley was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 2022 New Year Honours for services to diving, LGBTQ+ rights and charity.