Tom Daley won his fifth Olympic medal with a superb silver alongside Noah Williams in the men’s synchronised 10m platform in Paris. #DaleyOlympicMedal
Daley, 30, effectively retired from the sport after winning gold in the event in Tokyo, but he and Williams, 24, looked calm as he returned to the biggest stage.
The pair applied pressure to China’s Lian Junjie and Yang Hao – who were ultimately in a class of their own for gold after three world titles in a row – and were comfortable silver medallists after six fine dives.
Daley did not compete for two years but was persuaded to come out of retirement when his son Robbie, now aged six, said he wanted to see his ‘Papa’ dive at an Olympics.
Daley’s husband Dustin Lance Black, Robbie, their youngest son Phoenix and countless more friends and family were in the Paris Aquatics Centre to give the British pair loud support.
“It’s just so special,” Daley said.
“Doing it in front of my son who asked me to come back is so special. I now have one of every colour, I’ve completed the set.”
His two sons were wearing t-shirts that read ‘That’s my Papa’ and the first flicker of emotion from Daley came as he blew a kiss to his family from the medal podium.
For Williams, whose first experience of diving was watching on TV as a 14-year-old Daley competed at his first Olympics in 2008, this was a first Olympic medal. #DaleyOlympicMedal
“Tom dove amazingly,” said Williams, who will also compete in the individual competition in the second week of the Games.
“The fact he dove like that, and China were really good as well, helped me to elevate how I normally dive to what I did today.”
