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Tom Daley and Matty Lee win diving gold medal at Olympics – best fan reactions

Tom Daley and Matty Lee win diving gold medal at Olympics – best fan reactions

At the fourth time of asking, British diver Tom Daley has finally won an Olympic gold medal alongside Matty Lee in the synchronised 10 metre platform event in Tokyo.

The 27-year-old, who had twice won bronze at the two previous Olympic games, finished with Lee on 471.81 points thanks to a series of faultless dives that left them 1.23 points ahead of an impressive Chinese duo and the Russian Olympic Committee in third.

The British duo never dropped out of the top two and were given a distinct advantage after China scored poorly on their fourth dive, leaving the path to victory wide open for Daley and Lee.

It marks an incredible journey for Daley, who competed at his first Olympics in 2008 when he was just 14-years-old and has been in the public eye ever since.

Daley’s husband, American screenwriter Dustin Lance Black was understandably overcome with emotion.

The popularity of Daley saw an outpouring of support and jubilation for his and Lee’s win (who is competing in his first games), with many calling it thoroughly deserved.

‘Yes, Tom’ was soon trending on Twitter

Even the official Olympics account couldn’t resist celebrating.

Here is a remarkable picture that Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, shared of a very young Daley meeting then prime minister Gordon Brown ahead of Beijing 2008.

After his win, Daley gave an emotional and poignant speech about the tribulations he has been through during his career: “I am a gay man and also an Olympic champion. And I feel very empowered by that because when I was younger I felt I was never going to achieve anything because of who I was.”

Daley has a chance to win further gold at this Olympics when he competes in the individual 10m platform events that take place on August 6th and 7th.

Daley and Lee’s gold followed Adam Peaty defended his breaststroke title in the pool. This was followed by 21-year-old Tom Pidcock who won gold in the men’s cross-country mountain bike event, making it a very good Monday for Team GB in Japan.

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