Tom Daley will compete in his fourth Olympic Games after being selected for Team GB’s 12-person diving squad as he searches for his first gold medal after winning bronze in 2012 and 2016
Tom Daley will get the chance to win an elusive Olympic gold medal in Tokyo this summer after being selected by Great Britain for his fourth Games.
The 27-year-old heads up Team GB’s 12-person diving squad, which also includes Rio 2016 gold medallist Jack Laugher and 16-year-old debutant Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix, who is the daughter of First Dates maitre d’ Fred Sirieix.
Daley, who first competed at an Olympics as a 14-year-old at Beijing 2008, won bronze medals in the 10m platform at London 2012 and the 10m synchro in Rio.
Tom Daley will have the chance to win an elusive Olympic gold medal in Tokyo this summer after being selected by Great Britain for his fourth Games
But he will be going for gold in Tokyo in both the individual and synchronised event, having last month won World Cup and European Championship titles with partner Matty Lee.
Laugher is attempting to defend his Rio crown in the 3m springboard synchro, this time teaming up with Daniel Goodfellow, who won bronze with Daley in the 10m event in Brazil.
Laugher’s girlfriend Lois Toulson has also been selected by Team GB to compete in the 10m platform and synchro, where she partners Eden Cheng.
Daley won bronze medals in the 10m platform at London 2012 and the 10m synchro in Rio
Jack Laugher, who won Gold in 2016, is also part of Team GB’s 12-person diving squad
Spendolini-Sirieix, who was last year’s BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year, will dive in the 10m platform, having won bronze at last month’s Europeans.
The other divers selected are James Heatly (men’s 3m springboard), Noah Williams (men’s 10m platform), Grace Reid (women’s 3m springboard and 3m synchro), Kat Torrance (women’s 3m synchro) and Mew Jensen (women’s 3m springboard).
Mark England, Team GB chef de mission, said: ‘Everyone who supports Team GB will be buoyed by what this team has achieved in recent weeks and will have every confidence that we will see more of these medal winning performances in Tokyo.’
Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix, who is a 16-year-old debutant, will also compete in Tokyo
British Diving Performance Director, Alexei Evangulov, added: ‘This has been the longest Olympic cycle ever, however the hardest part of it was the last year – our team exceeded all my expectation in terms of coping with all the challenges we experienced during the pandemic.
‘Our divers not only managed to secure their physical and technical shape in this situation, but also significantly improved their diving quality.
‘All of this, plus our coaches and staff’s professionalism allowed us to come up to the homestretch to Tokyo with a great confidence, high ambitions and belief.’