Tokyo 2020: Tom Daley and Matty Lee win gold
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The athlete, 27, and his synchronised diving partner, Matty Lee, took home Britain’s second gold medal of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games on Monday. The win, in the men’s 10m platform event, is the pair’s first gold Olympic gold medal, in what was a fourth appearance for Tom and Matty’s debut Games. A score of 471.81 put the British duo ahead of their nearest rivals, China’s Cao Yuan and Chen Aisen, whose total of 470.58 was not enough to continue two decades of Chinese dominance in the event.
The ecstatic divers could be seen shouting and hugging their coaches after realising they had sealed their victory.
Earlier on Monday British swimmer Adam Peatty took home Britain’s first gold medal of the Games as he defended his title in the 100m breaststroke.
Team GB’s Tom Pidcock also won gold in the men’s mountain bike cross-country race on Monday, finishing 20 seconds ahead of his nearest competitor.
Tom Daley is one of the most recognisable faces at the Games, with a handful of TV and film appearances, including celebrity diving series, ‘Splash!’
He is married to Dustin Lance Black, the US screenwriter, director, producer and LGBTQ activist.
Tom has spoken openly about the couple’s sexuality and how being gay is still taboo and even outlawed in some countries.
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In a recently resurfaced 2018 interview he revealed that Lance had been “blacklisted” by Russia, a country where gay marriage is not legal and tolerance towards LGBTQ issues is worse than in the UK.
“He did a big protest there with a massive rainbow flag, and after he screened his film Milk he started getting threats and attacks. So he’s not allowed back,” Tom told Shortlist magazine.
Lance’s 2008 movie ‘Milk’, which earned him a ‘Best Original Screenplay’ Oscar, chronicles the life of Harvey Milk, the US gay rights activist and politician.
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Milk, who was the first openly gay elected official in California’s history, was assassinated in 1978.
Tom said that anti-LGBT attitudes in Russia had also impacted his own career, as he spoke about skipping a competition in the country in 2014 soon after he told people he was gay.
“It was in the wake of my coming out. I thought it was too risky and unsafe,” he told the magazine.
“Then, when everyone got back, I really kicked myself for not going. I’d let other people rule by fear, and it weighed really heavily on me.”
The diver said he knew he needed to go back the year after due to the potential positive message his appearance could have for young LGBTQ Russians.
“I’m conscious of my platform, so at the World Diving Series in Russia this year I wore a rainbow pin with ‘Pride’ on it. I wanted people to see it and know I was proud, and that they could feel proud, too,” he added.
On Monday Lance tweeted his congratulations to Matty and Tom after their win, saying he had “no words” to describe the moment, and adding that there had been “so many tears.”
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