Tom Daley’s son cheers him on at the Olympics: ‘That’s my Papa!’
Tom Daley, a 30-year-old professional diver representing Great Britain, has charmed crowds with his graceful dives and his knitting "superpower." And now, his 6-year-old son is witnessing his athleticism live at the Paris Olympics.
Daley, who just won a silver medal in the men's synchronized 10m platform diving, has a very special team beside him at his fifth Olympic Games: his husband, Academy Award-winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black, 50, and his sons, Robbie, 6, and Phoenix, 1.
“I was worried how it was going to go,” Daley told journalists a few weeks prior to competition. “Luckily, it was a night flight, so Robbie, who travels all the time, was fine because he’s 6 now, so he’s a bit more like an adult. Phoenix, however, is very much the second child — wriggly, wants to climb everything, jump on everything. He was quiet but I had to, like, wrangle him the whole time.”
The boys wore matching “Team Daley” shirts with a photo of their dad on the front and “That’s my Papa!” proudly written on the back. In footage shared by TODAY on Instagram, Robbie watched his dad compete, excitedly rocking back and forth as he held out a British flag.
Speaking of flags, Daley was honored as a flagbearer for Team Great Britain and made a special heart symbol with his hands to signal to his boys who were watching the opening ceremony on television.
His son Robbie gave him the push he needed to return to the 2024 Olympics after taking a two year break.
When visiting the United States Olympic & Paralympic Museum in Colorado Springs, Colorado, the family watched a video about what it means to be an Olympian.
“And of course, by the end of it, I was crying,” explained Daley, “and Robbie turned to me and said, ‘What’s the matter, Papa, what’s the matter?’ I said I missed diving and I missed the Olympics, and Lance looked at me and said, ‘Oh no, I know what this means.’ And Robbie was like, ‘I want to see you dive at the Olympics.’ And that was that.”
Daley told journalists, “For me, my Olympic gold medal at this time is having my kids there to watch.” He really wanted to set an example for his kids that “if you have a dream and you want to set your mind to it, you can get there.”
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This article was originally published on TODAY.com