The 27-year-old diver,
once the youngest member of Great Britain's team
is now the oldest.
Tom Daley at his fourth Olympics.
He was under a significant spotlight
from very early in his career.
Knowing this would be his last chance
to tuck away his first gold,
will Tom Daley wither under the constant media scrutiny?
For the last three Olympics,
it's all been about the Chinese
when it comes to the diving pool.
Or can the former child prodigy out-dive Father Time
and the odds-on favorites
to make his way to the top of the medal platform?
No doubt about it. It's going to go to the wire.
Wait for it.
WAIT FOR IT TOKYO 2020
Hi, I'm Lisanne de Witte
and this is Wait For It.
Imagine not just jumping,
but diving off the equivalent of a three-story building.
Travelling 56 kilometers an hour toward the water,
ten-meter platform synchronized divers
have only seconds to gracefully tuck, pike and twist
in unison with a teammate, a seemingly impossible feat.
Synchro diving joined the Olympic family in 2000
and just a year later,
a young lad in England climbed a tower for the first time.
After his father coaxed him onto his first diving board,
eight-year-old Tom Daley plunged into competing,
getting his first taste of victory.
The experience lit an Olympic flame under his bum.
Quickly dubbed a prodigy,
he competed in both individual and synchro,
but his permanent diving partner was always his dad,
who attended all of his son's events.
And he was there when his son realized his destiny.
The 13-year-old qualified to represent Team GB
in Beijing 2008,
becoming the youngest British male Olympian ever.
While the team didn't medal,
the next four years came with great strides forward,
but not without personal tragedy.
Tom's father had been diagnosed with brain cancer in 2006.
His goal was to see his son compete in London.
But sadly, in 2011,
the devoted dad lost his battle.
Despite the overwhelming heartbreak,
Tom managed to bring home a bronze.
Though he twice fulfilled the dream
of his nine-year-old self,
it wasn't enough.
His next opportunity came in Rio.
But again, his ultimate quest for gold was thwarted.
Can the piking prodigy finally dive his way to a gold?
Tom Daley, he got a bronze medal in Rio.
He'll be wanting to do better here.
Wait for it.
Back in the day, Tom started a channel
on something called YouTube
and quickly became an online sensation.
In 2013, the bona fide celebrity
made the decision to share
that he was a member of the LGBTQ community,
wanting to become a role model,
especially for kids who felt they didn't fit in.
The activism, coupled with athletic achievement
sent his socials skyrocketing.
This fostered waves of support
when he married his long-time boyfriend in 2017,
and started a family a year later.
It was his young son, named after his own dad,
who reignited his golden dreams.
But when Tom was finally standing on the precipice
of his fourth Olympics, COVID hit.
He took up needlework, not just as a diversion,
but also as a way to manage the anxiety
of balancing family life and training
during a global pandemic.
He launched an Instagram account
specifically for his fuzzy creations,
and even that attracted 1.3 million followers.
But the more likes you get,
the more pressure you're going to have to perform.
Especially if as an 11-year-old you told the news,
"I want to get to the Olympics and win a gold medal."
Come 2021, millions of eyes were on the four-time Olympian
and they wanted to see one thing, gold.
Then, just eight weeks before Tokyo,
Tom woke up with his knee locked in one position.
A trip to the doctor revealed a torn meniscus.
The only option? Surgery.
And it would take six weeks to recover.
In a competition that demanded
impeccable timing and coordination,
would Tom and his knee bounce back in time for Tokyo?
They needed a big dive.
They needed to keep the pressure on the Chinese pair.
Wait for it.
Even if he overcame a recently repaired knee
and the expectations of his countless followers,
he wasn't going to get any slack
from his fearsome competitors.
Cao Yuan and Chen Aisen were both champions in a discipline
that the People's Republic of China
has dominated since 1988.
Though both younger than Tom,
they already had four Olympic golds between them.
A terrific score for the Chinese.
Tom has a chance to flip history.
But the first few rounds hit the water just as expected.
And after three rounds,
the Chinese led Great Britain by about 15 points.
If history was any indication, that lead would only grow.
Difficulty 3.6.
And then the team that no one expected to falter...
The pikes were really tight.
But it all went wrong.
The British pair leapt into the lead
by just over five points.
And with spectacular dives from both teams in the fifth round,
China closed the gap to a minuscule 1.74 points.
Well, win or lose, the gold medal...
Performing under pressure.
Brilliant!
Absolutely fantastic!
Oh, my word!
Will it be good enough for gold?
China has one dive left.
All the Brits can do is watch and wait.
-Wow, it's going to be close. -It's going to be really close.
They wait for the judges' scores to come through.
Britain have done it!
They've won gold!
Champions.
Wow, wow, wow!
Tom Daley wanted that Olympic gold so, so much.
And there was a bit more history to be made.
Tom went on to win another individual bronze,
making him the most decorated British diver of all time.
The four-time Olympian used platform diving
and his deep pool of influence
to bring awareness to other platforms,
including the fight for LGBTQ rights.
So whether you're diving or knitting
or anything in between,
never stop fighting for what you believe in.
I'm Lisanne de Witte staying safely on the ground
until I'm back for another full-twisting episode of...
Wait For It.
Action!
Sorry, I was distrac...