I’m more relaxed about my Olympic bid with a son to think about, says Tom Daley

Daley with his son Robbie and husband Dustin
Instagram/Tom Daley

Tom Daley has revealed that becoming a father has made him less anxious about competing.

The Team GB diver also said it is “bitter-sweet” that the Tokyo Olympics will be held with no spectators as he’d love his two-year-old son Robbie to see him dive in person at the Games.

The Olympic diver, 26, married producer and director Dustin Black, 46, in 2017 and the couple had Robbie through surrogacy in 2018 — two years after the last Olympics in Rio.

Double world champion Daley, who won a bronze medal in 10-metre synchronised platform dive at the 2016 games with Daniel Goodfellow, said becoming a father and raising a young child during a pandemic had put the stress of competition into perspective.

He said that before the 2016 Rio games, he focused entirely on his sport and did “every single thing to the letter”.

With son Robbie who was born in 2018
Tom Daley/Instagram

“Whereas now, as a parent and having gone through a global pandemic, I have a little more perspective and am realising why I liked doing it in the first place,” he told Man About Town.

“Regardless of what happens in Tokyo, I know I can go home to my husband and my son and be happy and they’re not going to care how I do so I can just go and enjoy it, which normally means you dive better because you don’t have that anxiety.”

Plymouth-born Daley, who lives in London with his family, said he would love his son to see him compete at the Olympics in person — which may not be possible due to the pandemic.

He said: “It’s bitter-sweet because you never know if you’re going to get to do another Olympics. It’s one of those things that you never take for granted. I mean, of course he’ll be watching on TV if the time zones work, so he might have some memories around it.”

Daley spoke about the upcoming Tokyo Olympics and wanting to try television presenting

However, Daley said the plus side of the pandemic had meant he spent more time at home. “It had its challenges but I’m quite an optimistic person. I would have been travelling here, there and everywhere for competitions, training camps and I would have missed so much of Robbie’s development. I’ve got to spend so much more time with my family in one place so I’m very thankful.”

Speaking about what he’d like to do when he retires, the star suggested he would love to try television presenting.

Daley, who also has a YouTube channel, said: “Post-Olympics, I don’t know if it will be the end of my diving but I’d love to go into TV hosting. I’d love to eventually be like the Clare Balding of the Olympics.”

The full interview appears in Man About Town, which is available to order now at manabouttown.tv.

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