From school bullying to Olympic gold, Tom Daley sees teen idol pressure in new light

Tom Daley celebrates with his bronze medal at the 2012 London Olympics. PHOTO: REUTERS

UPDATED Jun 06, 2025, 11:36 AM

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NEW YORK – Meteoric early fame took a toll on British diving great Tom Daley, the retired former Olympic champion told Reuters, reflecting on the intense pressure of his early days as a teen idol with more sympathy for himself now he is a parent.

The 31-year-old Daley retired from competitive sport in 2024 after collecting silver – his fifth Olympic medal – in the 10-metre synchro in Paris, having spent more than half his life in the public eye.

A documentary “1.6 Seconds”, released this week on streaming service HBO Max, chronicles Daley’s breathtaking rise to fame as a 14-year-old Olympian through his difficult days of childhood bullying and his father’s death when the diver was a teenager.

“I would look back at that and I feel sorry for the young Tom a little bit, just to be like, ‘Oh my gosh, someone just tell him to stop and have some time to himself to kind of grieve and figure out what’s what’,” he said.

He picked up his first medal, a bronze in the 10m platform, in London in 2012, and claimed third place on the podium again in the synchro in Rio four years later before his breakthrough gold in Tokyo in the 10m synchro.

“That was particularly intense, talking about my school experience and bullying and then just seeing the down off from Rio going up into then Tokyo,” added Daley.

“Seeing the pressure that I put myself under as a young kid and especially now as a parent looking back at that... it’s a lot to look back at.”

Daley, whose popularity rose even more after he came out as gay in 2013, has long preached in favour of inclusivity in sport and fears that the current momentum against transgender Olympic participation could hurt the next generation.

US President Donald Trump’s decision in February to exclude transgender girls and women from female sport triggered what experts expect to be a long clash with the global sport authorities ahead of the Los Angeles Games in 2028.

The International Olympic Committee has refused to apply a universal rule over transgender athletes’ participation in the Games, instructing federations to devise their own guidelines.

“The messages that you send out and banning certain groups at whatever level it is – it just can be really dangerous in terms of allowing anyone to feel safe in the sport,” said Daley.

“As soon as you start banning certain groups, you start then feeling, ‘Am I going to be able to be included in the future? Is sport a place for me?’” REUTERS

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