BREAKING ALL THE STEREOTYPES & STRUGGLES: AN OLYMPIC CHAMPION

"I am Gay and an Olympic Champion", proudly said Tom Daley. All of us live in a world surrounded by not just people, but their thoughts, their beliefs and their ideologies. Many of us live by these/adhere to these and only a few emerge victorious out of these pseudo shackles that surround us. All of us know that there are innumerable beliefs and practices around us that are baseless, senseless and utterly useless. Then, Why are we quiet? Why don't we protest/fight for 'What we believe?' Why don't we try to change the way people think? At last, why don't we break the Stereotypes and make a strong statement? While I was trying to find answers to all these questions, I recalled a famous quote by Michael A. Greco that my friend shared with me a year ago. Here 'we' is referred to us and 'they' is referred to the society around us. "We are not who we think we are. We are not who they think we are. We are who we think they think we are." I suppose this answers all the questions above! The lines above seem a bit difficult to interpret at first glance but they tell a lot about us. We have tuned ourselves to accept the fact that we live a life where the society is our boss.

Summarising, the lines above, Man is a Social Animal and he believes that he is accepted by the society only when he follows the practices/beliefs of people around him, however lame they might be! Out of these many Stereotypes that exist in this society, same-sex marriage/gay marriage has been a topic of significance in the last few years and many have also managed to break the mould & shatter the myths around it and here's one of those excerpts that will take you through a story of a young Athlete from Britain, which guarantees life lessons for everyone. (A brief one but worth the read, I promise!)

Tom Daley, two-time Olympic Champion from Great Britain & Dustin Black, the 2008 Oscar Award winner from America who proudly got married in the year 2017 stand as a Powerful Gay Couple inspiring hundreds around the world to break the bubble around them.

Looking back into the past of Tom Daley, who clinched a Gold for Great Britain in the recent 10 Meter synchronised diving event held as a part of Tokyo Olympics'20, he is a young athlete who broke all the odds with his talent and bravery. He is a Diver, a Television personality, an author and a Youtuber.You can catch him at: https://youtube.com/c/TomDaley

Tom did not just break the Stereotypes of same-sex marriage but also the Stereotypes that surround sports and also the ones around life. Tom who learnt to swim at the age of just 4, got enrolled in a local pool even before his 7th birthday was over. He was very keen on sports from a young age and liked Judo along with diving from childhood. During this time, he was spotted by a diving coach named Andy and started to make Tom a serious diver by putting him into an increasingly intensive training regime along with regular lessons and practice. Soon, he was placed in a competitive squad and he had to travel far away from home at a very young age with his father who left his job to concentrate on his child's career. Life was very tough for this man, he lost his father, who was his biggest supporter at the age of just 17 and was a very serious victim of bullying from a very tender age of just 13. Despite all of this, he continued to pursue his passion for diving alongside studies in Photography, Math & Spanish.

Just 10 years old, he became the youngest ever winner of the under-18 Championship at the National Level and met the qualification standard for the 2006 Commonwealth games. Unfortunately, he could not take part for being not old enough. However, by the age of 16, he took part in the Commonwealth games and managed to clinch 2 Golds in the individual 10M event.

Soon, he became the poster boy of the London Olympics 2012 promoting the games around the country. He won a bronze medal at just 17 in the individual event of that year’s Olympics and just missed the cut in the synchronised event by finishing 4th. He later won a bronze in the Rio Olympics and now gold in the Tokyo Olympics. When I mentioned the title 'Breaking Stereotypes', I literally meant it. Tom faced bizarre, completely unpredictable and remorseless objectification from childhood. Here's an excerpt of what he said, " It was really weird; I was still at school. I was, like: ‘What the hell is going on?’” and pretty relentless interrogation about his sexuality. By 2013, “lots of my friends knew that I wasn’t necessarily fussy in that sense. Boys, girls, whatever. Journalists always asked: ‘Do you have a girlfriend?’ And I always said: ‘No, diving’s my No1. I said: ‘No, I don’t have a girlfriend but I’m looking for one.’ And then someone asked: ‘Do you ever wonder why people think you’re gay?’ And I said something like: ‘Maybe because I spend half my time half-naked,’ thinking: ‘They can think whatever they like, what does it matter?’ But then the next day, headlines were all: ‘Tom Daley is not gay.’ And that’s what sparked it. Because I was not having people thinking I’d been lying.”

Look how difficult it must have been for that young lad. Despite all of this, he managed to break both Stereotypes and the records. It's more often than not for a popular figure to see their things being amplified even if they are remotely controversial. Obviously, it took him time to come out and speak for himself instead of shying away from questions posed at him like needles. Sooner or later with time, he inculcated the values of thoughtfulness and the much-needed outspoken attitude to tackle unwanted criticism.

A few years ago, when Tom openly advocated for the LGBT community, it was a brave thought because at that time there were countries that literally used to criminalize people doing the same. Being a citizen of the United Kingdom and a Brave advocate of rights for the LGBT community, he says " How lucky am I to be able to be married to the person I love without any worry about ramifications, to be able to represent my country at a sport I love to do, and not have to worry about getting thrown in jail? ‘I thought, if I can try and shine a light on that, that’s the way to change people’s hearts, that’s the way to change their minds, and change laws, and change the way people think about everything.”

A week ago, Daley delivered his speech at a table flanked by his Chinese and Russian competitors, who respectively took silver and bronze medals. The media now present & the governments of these countries severely backlashed at many people fighting for LGBTQ rights. Daley also previously said that he avoided taking part in a competition in Russia shortly after coming out because he felt unsafe given the prevalence of homophobia and a raft of anti-LGBTQ legislation in the country.

" I feel incredibly proud to say that I am a gay man and also an Olympic champion,” said Daley. “When I was younger, I didn’t think I’d ever achieve anything because of who I was. To be an Olympic champion now just shows that you can achieve anything.” Tom came out as gay in 2013 and is one of at least 142 LGBTQ athletes competing at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics—the highest number on record, a clear indication of vocal & outspoken people have become. Aged just 27, Tom is already regarded as a 'veteran athlete who not just inspires people to take up sports but also inspires people to break the Stereotypes and make a strong statement before the world. Similar to the one that you just finished reading, there are many more stories that will inspire us to be ourselves, just ourselves without intoxicating ourselves with stupid Stereotypes. At last, I would say for the so-called 'Society', "You may have the right to have your own beliefs/thoughts but you definitely do not have the right to ask everybody around you to say 'Yes' and believe the same.

For all the ones who are surrounded by suffocating Stereotypes, I repeat what a wise man once said: 'If you want to see the Change, Be the Change!'