Diver Tom Daley of Team GB arrives back in the United Kingdom at St. Pancras International Station on Monday in London.
Leon Neal/Getty Images Europe
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Leon Neal/Getty Images Europe
British Olympic diver Tom Daley, who has won five medals and went viral in the Paris games for his sideline knitting, is retiring.
“It was emotional at the end, up there on the platform, knowing it was going to be my last competitive dive,” he told Vogue in an interview published Monday. “But I have to make the decision at some point, and it feels like the right time. It’s the right time to call it a day.”
Daley, 30, first began his Olympic career at age 14 in the 2008 Beijing Games. He has since won three bronze medals, one gold medal and most recently, a silver in the men’s 10-meter synchronized platform event at the Paris Games.
He went on a two-year hiatus from the sport following the Tokyo Games, and has overcome several hurdles over the course of his career, including breaking a hand, tearing a tricep, hitting his head on the platform and getting a case of the “twisties,” he told British Vogue.
He lent his expertise as a pundit during the Paris Games, has planned to start his own underwear and swimwear line and has signed up for a sewing class at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (FIDM) in Los Angeles, adding to his repertoire of knitting and crocheting.
“Thank you, diving over and out,” he said on Instagram.