British diving star Tom Daley announced on Monday that he is in a relationship with a man as he became the latest sports star to come out as gay with a public declaration.
The 19-year-old won a bronze metal at last year's London Olympics and worked as one of the faces used in the pre-Games publicity. He made the announcement in a YouTube clip in an attempt to end "rumors and speculation" about his sexuality.
"In an ideal world I wouldn't be doing this video because it shouldn't matter but recently I was misquoted in an interview and it made me feel really angry and frustrated, and emotions that I've never felt before when reading something about myself, and for me honesty is something that I really do believe in," he said in the video, posted below. "I've been dating girls and I've never really had a serious relationship to talk about and now I feel kind of ready to talk about my relationships."
Daley went on to discuss his new romance that he began this spring and admitted that the relationship was different from any other he's been in before.
"Come spring this year my life changed massively when I met someone and they made me feel so happy, so safe and everything just feels great -- and that someone is a guy," he said. "Of course I still fancy girls but right now I'm dating a guy and I couldn't be happier."
The diver started making more public appearances following his Olympics run in London. His coming out to the public came on the same day he told the rest of his family saying that, for the most part, they were supportive of him, including his mother.
Daley's father died of cancer at age 40 about a year before the Olympics but the athlete said he feels his dad would support anything that makes him happy.
"My friends and family are always there to support me and I hope you guys can too," he said. "I mean, I'm still Tom. I still want to win an Olympic Gold Medal in Rio 2016 for Great Britain. I'm still as motivated as ever to do that. It'd be great to have you guys on that journey too."
