In an NBC Olympics profile, British
diver Tom Daley talks about his father's passing at 40 and coming out
gay.
The 22-year-old Daley won the bronze
medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London and is making his third
Olympic appearance in Rio.
“I couldn't wait to compete in front
of my mom and dad at the 2012 Olympics in London,” Daley
says in the segment. “I trained harder than ever. But my dad
was sick. A year before the games, he died. He was 40. I was 17.”
“But in tragedy I found strength. I
know he was watching over me.”
As the camera pans over pictures of
Daley and fiance Dustin Lance Black, a Hollywood screenwriter, Daley
says, “I love this man.”
“Love can make you want to shout from
the rooftops. But when I turned on my camera to share the news,
doubt and fear crept in,” Daley said of the video he recorded in
2013. “But I found the courage to come out and speak my truth.”
In Rio, Daley and Daniel Goodfellow won
a bronze medal in the synchronized 10m platform.