Emotional Tom Daley says he thinks about his late dad Robbie each day

Tom Daley reflected on the ‘special’ bond he had with his father Robbie in an emotional clip.

The Olympic diver, 30, who is competing at his fifth Olympiad in Paris, said he thinks about his father ‘every day’ after he passed when he was just 17-years-old.

His father Robbie died aged 40 in 2011 following a long five year battle with brain cancer. 

Looking back on a clip when he was qualifying for his first Olympics in 2008, it showed Robbie and a young Daley share a cuddle after his triumph.

Tom shared his devastation that Robbie never got to see him have kids or win a gold medal in the Olympics.

Tom Daley, 30, reflected on the ‘special’ bond he had with his father Robbie in an emotional clip

The Olympic diver, who is competing at his fifth Olympiad in Paris, said he thinks about his father ‘every day’ after he passed when he was just 17-years-old

He also hoped his father never regretted sacrificing his life to Tom’s early career and passion. 

He said: ‘It is really nice to be able to see that back. To know how much he did give up and how much he sacrificed, it is very special. I hope that he never regretted that.

‘He got to see me compete in 2008 at the Olympics, which is one of the reasons why it was meant to be that I qualified for those Olympics so young, was that he got the chance to see that, because be 2012 he was already gone.

‘So he never got to see that Olympic medal, he never got to see me have kids and then win an Olympic gold medal.

‘Now, our son Robbie is named after him so we think about him every day.’ 

Tom first appeared for Britain at Beijing 2008 before winning bronze medals at both London in 2012 and Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

Despite retiring after clinching gold at Tokyo 2020, the swimmer came out of retirement to dive in front of his children at Paris.

Tom and Noah Williams will compete in Paris on July 29.

His father Robbie died aged 40 in 2011 following a long five year battle with brain cancer

Looking back on a clip when he was qualifying for his first Olympics in 2008, it showed Robbie and a young Daley share a cuddle after his triumph

Tom shared his devastation that Robbie never got to see him have kids or win a gold medal in the Olympics 

Tom got stuck into some knitting as he watched the Women’s Synchronised 3m Springboard Final at the Aquatics Centre on the first day of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games on Saturday

The diver knitted a GB jumper for the team

Williams teamed up with Daley to win silver at the World Championships back in February – a victory which booked their spots at the Olympics.

Unlike in Tokyo, Tom is not appearing in the individual 10 metre platform in order to focus solely on the synchronised event.

Tom reportedly performed changed his mind on retirement last year after a visit to the Olympic and Paralympic Museum in Colorado Springs with his husband Lance and sons Robbie and Phoenix.