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We know him as an Olympic diver, but did you know that Tom Daley is also an avid knitter? Well, he is and he even has a whole Instagram page dedicated to his craft. Called “made with love by Tom Daley”, the account – which is less than one year old – is a treasure trove of gorgeous, colourful creations all handmade by Mr Daley himself.
Picking the hobby up at the start of lockdown, Tom admitted that he’s “been obsessed ever since” with that enthusiasm later spilling over to crochet too. Using his feed to proudly display all of the things he’s whipped up over the past few months, so far those include a red and white stripe jumper (the first jumper he ever knit), a purple scarf (very chic) and a pair of navy and yellow speedos (cute, but probably not all that functional).
Impressing followers with how quickly he picked the skill up, it’s clear that diving isn’t his only talent but Tom managed to combine the two interests with his latest project… whipping up an Olympic-themed cosy to carry his new gold medal around in.
“I don’t normally post things that are not necessarily knitting related on my ‘Made With Love’ page, but myself and Matty – my swimming partner – won the Olympics yesterday, and I thought I’d come on and just say the one thing that has kept me sane throughout this whole process is my love for knitting and crochet, and all things stitching,” the athlete said in a video he shared with fans yesterday.
Holding up his impressive new medal, the pride on his face was evident but it’s hard to say which he was more excited by… the Olympic accolade itself or the pouch he knit to hold it in. “This morning I made a little cosy for my medal to stop it getting scratched. So, here it is.
“It slots in like this and then I’ve got a Union Jack on one side and the Japanese flag on the other. It all tucks in nicely, to have a little pouch for me to carry around my medal without it getting scratched. How about that?”
Still on a high from his victory alongside diving partner Matty Lee, Daley was overcome with emotion at the achievement – one which he’d been working toward for 13 long years. Securing the lead over China’s Chen Aisen and Cao Yuan, the duo secured the win with a top score of 471.81 – just 1.23 points ahead of their Chinese competitors.
Essentially growing up with the Games (he was just 14 years old when he first competed in Beijing back in 2008), he quickly became the face of British diving and the world watched with bated breath as he tried to secure his first gold medal this year. However, while fans were understandably thrilled by his triumph, it was his post-victory speech that people are still talking about.
“I feel incredibly proud to say that I am a gay man and also an Olympic champion,” a tearful Daley commented. “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.”
Emboldening the LGBTQ+ community to always aim for the stars, Daley continued by saying, “In terms of ‘out’ athletes, there are more openly out athletes at these Olympic Games than any Olympic Games previously.
“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,” he finished.
Tom Daley = the cutest person, maybe ever?
Feature image via @tomdaley