Gay Diver Tom Daley Discusses Coming Out, 'Demon Dive' With BBC

Right now, openly gay diver Tom Daley is competing in the 20th annual Commonwealth Games — the largest multi-sport event ever held in Scotland. So the BBC caught up with him to ask about his coming out and preparation for the games.

On coming out, Daley predictably said:

“The public support has been overwhelming. Everyone's been so nice." It is also, he adds, a "massive weight" off his shoulders.

"Right now, all I concentrate on is diving," he says. "I don't have any other worries. I'm happy with life, I'm happy with diving."

But less known is the the fact that Daley has been plagued with performance anxiety over a “demon dive” that nearly derailed his medalling at the 2012 London games:

Known as the 'back two-and-a-half somersault, two-and-a-half twists from the pike position', the dive involves Daley somersaulting backwards while twisting his body around, his head spinning just inches from the board he left a split-second earlier…

The first of his six dives in the Olympic 10m platform final, Daley's rhythm was disturbed when a camera flashlight went off in the arena…

Daley has just 1.8 seconds to complete each dive before he hits the water 10 metres below at 34mph.

He was allowed to retake it and achieved a respectable score, good enough for him to get on the podium at his home Games.

But from that day on, the dive was an issue.

At various stages over the last two years, he has used words and phrases like "phobia" and "trauma therapy" to describe his state of mind whenever he tries to perform it.

He has even enlisted the help of psychologist to address the issue. But, two years on, he still does not feel 100% comfortable with it.

In April, the dive misfired again and he missed out on a medal at a World Series event in London, in the very pool where the problems began…

The article also contains Daley’s reply to those who claim that he spends too much time on his reality TV show appearances ("If I spent my whole life worrying about what people thought, I wouldn't be a diver and I wouldn't be where I am today.”) as well as this interesting homo-sports nugget:

Daley is likely to face a major challenge from Australia's Matthew Mitchum, who won Olympic gold in Beijing in 2008, when they compete in the 10m platform in Glasgow later this week.

11 people whose coming out made headlines in 2013

The increasing visibility of openly gay politicians, actors and public figures speaks volumes for the progress the LGBTI community and allies have made in the past few decades.

This year saw beloved celebrities, athletes and young students come forward and share with the world one of the most important and intimate aspects of their lives.
Whether they came out at school, on the Golden Globes stage or in a Youtube video - GSN applauds the message these 11 individuals shared when they came out of the closet.

1. Jodie Foster

The actress used the 2013 Golden Globes ceremony for a glorious coming out speech.
Foster went on stage to receive the Cecil B De Mille Lifetime Achievement Award and made a strong statement on how she didn’t think there was a need for a public declaration about her sexuality.
‘Every celebrity is expected to honor the details of their private life with a press conference, a fragrance and a primetime reality show,’ Foster said.
Watch Jodie Foster's speech at the Golden Globes 2013:

2. Jacob Rudolph

This brave student went on stage to receive the Class Actor Award during the presentations of senior class awards at his New Jersey high school.
Jacob took this opportunity to share with everyone what no one knew about him. ‘Most of you see me everyday. You see me acting the part of straight Jacob, when I am in fact LGBT,’ he said. He came out in front of more than 300 peers and the reaction couldn’t be better when classmates responded with a standing ovation.
Check out his speech below:

3. Raven-Symoné

Some people on social media said Raven Symoné ruined their childhood after coming out as a lesbian, but that was definitely the right thing to do. After the demise of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and the dismissal of Prop 8 in the United States, the Disney Chanel star expressed her excitement over the advances for the LGBTI community on Twitter.
‘I can finally get married! Yay government! So proud of you.’