Devonian diving star and television personality Tom Daley worked hard for his Olympic medals, and experienced difficulties along the way, including a brush with eating disordered behaviour.
Tom tearfully announced his retirement shortly after the 2024 Paris Olympics.
He told the BBC it’s “hard to talk about,” but said he’s “very proud” of what he’s achieved.
Along with other household names like Prince Harry, Jake Humphrey, Jon Snow and This Morning’s Dr Zoe Williams, Tom didn’t do as well at school as many of his peers.
Olympic diver Tom Daley felt ‘guilt and shame’ over eating disorder
In a 2021 interview with The Guardian, Tom Daley – Britain’s most decorated diver – answered questions from readers about his success, and the effort it took to get to the podium.
One reader mentioned the eating disordered behaviour he’d written about in his book, Coming Up For Air. Note that Tom doesn’t appear to have described his behaviour as “bulimic” per se, although some outlets have.
“I used to make myself throw up,” he said in response to the question. “In 2012.”
“I weigh myself every day. I’ve had a very strange relationship with food and my body image,” he continued. “I guess it is a mild form of that.
“Men always seem to not have eating disorders, and it’s hard to talk about it. But I would consider myself to be someone that has very much struggled with body image, and eating, and feeling guilty and shameful of the things that I eat.”
Tom’s views on ‘body issues’ and impacted self-esteem
In response to another reader-submitted question – about the sexualisation of athletes – Tom explained that many athletes experience “body issues”.
Whereas many spectators and members of the public might assume that athletes have “nothing to worry about” regarding body image, Tom said it’s not as simple as that.
Divers have to leave most of their bodies exposed. As a result, they’re on display for the whole world to see.
Tom highlighted the natural human desire to “want to be better”, especially when the TV cameras are magnifying every part of the body.
The result is that it’s “quite hard to be content” with your body, he said.
Interestingly, however, he doesn’t blame the media.
“My body image [issues] came from within my sport,” he told the paper. “It was hammered into me that I was overweight and needed to lose weight in order to perform.”
Read more: Tom Daley shares first pictures of new baby as son Robbie plays doting big brother
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