TOM Daley believes he ALREADY has a second Olympic gold medal around his neck – before he even gets to Paris.
Team GB’s king of the platform achieved his career ambition when he and synchro partner Matty Lee stood on top of the Olympic podium in Tokyo three years ago.
Daley “hung up his trunks” afterwards, only to be enticed back into the five-ringed circus by a plaintive appeal from eldest son Robbie, now six.
And Daley, 30, who is contemplating making a record sixth and final Olympics splash in 2028, says the chance to perform in front of Robbie and younger brother Phoenix means he is already a Games winner again.
Daley said: “If you had told me I was going to be able to get back in time for my fifth Olympic Games, I wouldn’t have thought it was possible.
“It all started when we were in Colorado Springs as a family, where Phoenix was born.
“We got there and then realised it has the Olympic and Paralympic Museum.
“When I signed in, the staff there saw the Olympic rings on my right hand and they started ‘Oh – you’re an Olympian!’
“They have this big atrium area where you walk in where there’s loads of balconies.
“All the staff came in and clapped. I was stuck in the middle of this thing, mortified.
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“At the end, there’s a video of what it means to be an Olympian. By the end of it, I was crying and Robbie turned to me and asked ‘what’s the matter, pop?’
“I just said ‘I miss diving and I miss the Olympics’.
“Lance looked at me and was, ‘oh no – I know what this means….’
“And then Robbie said ‘pop, I want to see you dive in the Olympics’ and that was that.”
Daley admitted: “I didn’t even know if it was going to be possible.
“I’d taken two years off. There was no guarantee I’d back in the team, be able to do my dives again, stay injury-free or qualify.
“There were all of these hurdles to overcome. I didn’t even know I could be sore in some of the places that I was sore in, just getting back into the sport.”
Daley will stick to the synchro in Paris, with new partner Noah Williams.
But defend his title or not, he added: “As far as I’m concerned, I’ve already won an Olympic gold medal – having my kids there to watch is a gold medal.
“Some might think that anything less than gold will be a disappointment but that’s not the case.
“Of course I want to win another medal – I’d be lying if I said otherwise.
“In Beijing, London and Rio, I tortured myself through the whole experience because I wanted to do well so badly.
“By Tokyo I was standing on the board with perspective, that whatever happened I’d be going home to a family that loved and supported me.
“This time, I have the gold medal, done everything I wanted to do ever in the sport, exceeded all my expectations.
“So this is a bonus year where I can soak in the atmosphere, be there, stand on the podium, actually look around and think ‘this is what I have worked all of my life for’.”
And Paris is unlikely to be the end with the Games next in his new home town of Los Angeles.
He hinted: “I don’t know about six.
“But I said that the last time and here I am back. They’re talking of adding a mixed team event in 2028. So who knows?”
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