Tom Daley shares that crocheting and knitting helped him in the run-up to the Olympics. He also shows an adorable pouch he created for his gold medal. (Instagram/@madewithlovebytomdaley)
Olympic gold medalist Tom Daley has opened up about the “one thing” that has kept him “sane” in the lead-up to the 2020 Tokyo games.
Daley took to his crafting Instagram account – @madewithlovebytomdaley – to share the good news about his first gold medal win on Monday (26 July). He wrote in the post that “learning to knit and crochet has helped me so much through these Olympics”.
In a video attached to the post, Daley thanked all his followers on the crafting page and proudly displayed his new medal which he earned alongside his diving partner Matty Lee.
“The one thing that has kept me like sane throughout this whole process is my love for knitting and crochet and all things stitching,” Daley said.
He also showed off his latest creation – a little pouch for his medal. Daley’s creation included a Union Jack design on one side and a Japanese flag on the other. Daley explained that he made the “little cosy” earlier in the day to protect his medal by preventing it “from getting scratched”.
One person commented that Daley “better make your teammate one” while another person joked they hoped Daley had enough cosies “for the rest of the team too”.
Tom Daley took up crafting during the pandemic
In an interview with the Guardian earlier this year, the Olympic shared that he had “taken up crochet” during lockdown. He shared how he had “become very committed to it” like “most things in my life” including his sports career and his devotion to his family. His love of stitching is enough that the news outlet declared him the “world’s biggest crochet influencer”.
The Olympian’s wholesome creations include a kaleidoscope collection of jumpers, a full-on dress, a couch for a cat, a rainbow poncho, woolly swimming trunks and even a tiny unicorn stuffie.
Daley shared on his Crowdfunder page that he plans to “slowly raffle of my makes and hope to raise a lot of money for charity”. He recently raffled off a chunky rainbow jumper for £5,787, and the money went towards the Brain Tumour Charity. Daley said the charity is close to his heart as his dad died in 2011 from a brain tumour.