Daley recalls fond memory of father after championship gold

Tom Daley recalled the moment his father surprised him in a media conference following his first World Championships win after ending his eight-year wait for a second.

Daley responded from the disappointment of failing to reach the Olympic final in Rio last August by winning world 10 metres platform gold in Budapest on Saturday.

The 23-year-old Plymouth diver first won the world title in Rome in 2009, aged 15, and his father Rob died two years later, aged 40, following a five-year battle with brain cancer.

“One of my fondest memories of my dad was in 2009, when I won the World Championships and he crashed the press conference,” Daley said.

“He was a blubbering wreck, crying. I hope he will be proud of me today.”

Daley has actively campaigned for the Brain Tumour Charity since, raising funds for research, and he is fronting a television campaign to be aired on the BBC on Sunday.

He was 17 when his father died, a year before Daley claimed a bronze medal at the London 2012 Olympics.

Daley had stated nothing less than gold would satisfy him in Rio, but he left inconsolable after under-performing in the semi-final.

He responded emphatically in Budapest. His score of 590.95 points from his six dives was more than Chen Aisen scored in taking Olympic gold and relegated the Chinese diver to runner-up at the Duna Arena.

Daley celebrated with his coach, Jane Figueiredo, who has helped him restore his confidence with Tokyo 2020 in his sights.

“I just wanted to run to the nearest person that would hug me and actually appreciate it,” added Daley, who was watched by husband Dustin Lance Black, the Hollywood screenwriter, and mum Debbie in Budapest.

“Myself and Jane have put in so much hard work. She’s had a rough year, too. She snapped her Achilles back in March and had a rough time getting surgery, it not going successfully and going back again.

“She was jumping up and down – I don’t know how, on one leg I think. She’s still got a boot on and a scooter that she’s going around in.

“It just meant so much coming from how we felt last year, being completely deflated and completely and utterly devastated.

“Now to have the complete opposite, be completely elated and so excited about everything. I still can’t believe quite what has happened. I’m over the moon.”