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Heart-stopping moment Tom Daley and Matty Lee realise they’ve struck Olympic gold melts hearts

Tom Daley and Matty Lee, both shirtless and wearing trunks, embrace

Tom Daley (R) and Matty Lee embrace after realising they’ve won Olympic gold. (Screen captures via Twitter/BBC Sport)

The moment Tom Daley and Matty Lee realised they had at long last struck Olympic gold has left fans with severe cases of melted hearts.

Daley, 27, hoisted himself up from the Tokyo Summer Olympics pool Monday (26 July) to find that his decade-long dream had come true.

He and his diving partner Lee had scored a gold medal in the nerve-filled men’s synchronised 10m platform event with a score of 471.81.

It had been 13 years in the making for Daley, who competed in his first games in 2008 aged just 14. It was a no less glorious moment for Lee, who aged 23 won gold on his very first Olympics event,

The pair delivered a sublime performance to take the gold, finishing one point ahead of Chinese powerhouses Cao Yuan and Chen Aisen.

Staring wide-eyed at the electronic scoreboard, cameras captured the moment that Daley and Lee found out they had won. With tears in his eyes, Daley jumped up and wrapped his legs around Lee.

 

Tom Daley and Matty Lee embracing leaves Twitter users in tears

The relentlessly wholesome clip of Daley and Lee’s celebrations tugged on the hearts of countless Twitter users.

https://twitter.com/mistizababe/status/1419583638472101893

After taking to the medal podium, Tom Daley spoke about the pressures he has faced throughout his years in the piercing public eye, as well as what it means to be a queer Olympic champion at a time when more than 160 openly LGBT+ athletes are competing.

“In terms of out athletes, there are more openly out athletes at these Olympic Games than any Olympic Games previously,” a glowing Daley told the press at a conference after the dive.

“I came out in 2013 and when I was younger I always felt like the one that was alone and different and didn’t fit.

“There was something about me that was never going to be as good as what society wanted me to be. I hope that any young LGBT person out there can see that no matter how alone you feel right now, you are not alone.

“You can achieve anything.”

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