Tom Daley completes 4-day homecoming challenge for Comic Relief

Image caption, The Olympic diver thanked those who had supported him along the way after he crossed the finish line on Plymouth Hoe

Tom Daley has finished his Hell of a Homecoming mission for Comic Relief.

The four-day challenge has seen him rowing, swimming, cycling and running from London to his home town of Plymouth, in Devon.

The Olympic gold-medallist said it was "the hardest thing" he had ever done in his life.

During the Red Nose Day challenge, Daley visited places that have played an important role in his life and career.

Image caption, The challenge began with a six-mile (9.5km) row

He began the mission on Monday, leaving the London Aquatics Centre in Stratford for a six-mile (9.5km) row to Tower Pier, where he overturned his boat in the River Thames.

He then completed a 60-mile (97km) cycle to the Redgrave Pinsent Rowing Lake in Reading, Berkshire.

On day two he completed a 5249 ft (1,600m) open-water swim before starting a 63-mile (101km) cycle to Southampton.

Image caption, On day two he completed an open-water swim

He braved heavy rain and wind during a 130-mile (209km) cycle from Southampton on Wednesday, climbing more than 3,000ft (915m) to raise funds for Comic Relief.

"I feel physically drained, mentally drained and I spent more than 15 hours on a bike yesterday, up some of the craziest hills in the wind and the weather", he said, adding it had been the hardest part of the challenge.

He said his legs "just gave way" and he fell off and could not move "but had to get back on the bike."

Image caption, Daley cycled for various parts of the journey

On Thursday, the Olympic diver set off on his final 30-mile (48km) run from Bovey Castle in Dartmoor National Park where he married film director Dustin Lance Black, five years ago.

Crowds gathered and a choir sang outside the castle as they waved him off on the final stretch of his money-raising mission to Smeaton's Tower on Plymouth Hoe.

He told BBC Breakfast he had "only ever run 18 miles (29km) in training."

Image caption, Daley was joined by comedian Eddie Izzard who ran alongside

The 27-year-old said: "I trained for the Olympics, I trained for all of those 20 years that I have been in diving, this is the hardest thing that I have ever had to do in my life, physically, it has just been one thing to the next to the next and the accumulative impact that it has had.

"These last three days I have put my body through things that I never thought I would be able to do.

"Raising money for Comic Relief is super important because it's going to help so many people across the country, so if people can donate it will mean the world."

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