'Papa, I want to see you dive': Tom Daley's Olympics bid after son's plea

Olympic champion Tom Daley has said he will return to the pool to target a spot at Paris 2024 after a two-year hiatus.

In a new YouTube video, the 29-year-old diver said he was inspired to return to the sport after his 5-year-old son told him he would like to see his dad compete in the Olympics.

While on a trip to a Colorado Springs before his newborn son Phoenix was born, he visited an Olympic museum with his son Robbie and his husband Dustin Lance Black.

“[Robbie and I] watched this inspirational video of all of the amazing moments of the Olympics… and I sat there with Robbie and I remember the video started and I just wept,” he said. “It’s like I hadn’t grieved diving.”

After leaving the museum, he said he realised he wasn’t quite ready to “hang up [his] trunks”.

That feeling was made stronger when Robbie turned to him and said: “Papa, I want to see you dive at the Olympics”.

“It has lit a new flame in me to see where this goes, I don’t know where this is going to go,” Daley said.

Daley shared the story with his 1.1 million followers on YouTube

His first appearance at the Olympics was in Beijing in 2008 when he was just 14 years old.

He went on to win 18 medals across across Olympic Games, World and European championships, including nine golds.

Paris 2024 would be the Daley’s fifth Olympic games – making history as the first British diver to compete in five Olympic games.

Tom Daley (right) and Max Brick show off their gold medals for the men’s 10m synchro platform diving event at the 2010 Commonwealth Games / Credit: AP

In the YouTube video, he also gave fans an update on his life, revealing that he is now living permanently in California.

The Plymouth-born Olympian smiled as he spoke of welcoming his newborn son, Phoenix Rose, who was born in April.

“Now I have two little bubbas and they are the best things to have ever happened,” he said.

Tom Daley and husband Dustin Lance Black at the GQ Men of the Year 2022 event last November / Credit: Invision/AP

While on his two-year break from the sport, he attended the Met Gala in 2021 and started his knitting and crochet brand Made with Love.

Speaking of his potential return to the diving board, he said: “I don’t know if this is going to be a completely silly idea of me getting back in the pool or an opportunity for me to do this recreationally and have a bit of fun without any pressure, or if my body is going to be able to get back on a diving board and dive half-decently.

“I don’t know what that’s going to look like. Paris 2024 is definitely a goal. I don’t know if it’s going to be possible but you never say never.”