Olympic champion Tom Daley has not let his success go to his head after winning his first gold medal at Tokyo Olympics.
The British sportsman, 27, was seen knitting in the stands on Sunday during the Women’s 3m Springboard Diving Final at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre on the ninth day of the Olympic Games in Japan.
He cut a casual figure as he worked on a pink and cream woolly creation while watching the diving event from the stands with fellow athletes and officials.
Tom, who is a keen crafter, often shares snaps to his knitting Instagram page, called Made With Love By Tom Daley, where he revealed his needlework has kept him sane while training for the Games.
Olympic champion Tom Daley, 27, has not let his success get to his head after winning his first gold medal at Tokyo 2020 as he was spotted knitting in the stands on Sunday
The British sportsman was focused on his needlework during the Women’s 3m Springboard Diving Final at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre at the Olympic Games in Japan
His next diving event, after winning gold, is the individual 10m platform on Friday and is the last event in the diving programme in Tokyo.
After he and diving partner Matty Lee triumphed in the 10m synchronised platform event on July 26, Tom revealed he had knitted an emotional keepsake to forever remind him of his first gold medal at Tokyo 2020 – a customised gold medal pouch.
In honour of his pivotal moment at the games, Tom took to his knitting and crocheting Instagram page to reveal the medal pouch, which bears the Union Jack on one side and the Japanese flag on the other.
He posted a video of the pouch, saying: ‘One thing that has kept me sane throughout this process is my love for knitting and crocheting
He was snapped as he worked on a pink and cream woolly creation while watching the diving event from the stands, and chatted with fellow athletes and officials
Tom often shares snaps to his knitting Instagram page, called Made With Love By Tom Daley where he revealed his needlework has kept him sane while training for the Games
Mission accomplished: After winning gold, he revealed has knitted a customised medal pouch to forever remind him of his first gold medal at Tokyo 2020
‘This means I can carry around my medal without it getting scratched!’
He captioned the video: ‘THANK YOU TO ALL MY FELLOW STITCHERS!
‘Learning to knit and crochet has helped me so much through these Olympics and we won GOLD yesterday I made a little medal case too!’
Tom has previously spoken about the cathartic effect knitting has on his mindset during competitions, saying: ‘When we went to Japan for the test event I actually took my knitting with me and was doing it during my competition because sometimes there’s 45 minutes in between each dive so I’d sit there and knit and just take my mind off the competition completely. I’m obsessed!’
Finally: The British diver broke down in tears as he and diving partner Matty Lee triumphed in the 10m synchronised platform event on Monday – his first gold medal in four Olympic games
The father-of-one one joked that his one worry going into the Olympics is he will run out of yarn while he is there.
He added: ‘I’m thinking of taking a little project out there where I’m going to try and create some kind of Olympic themed jumper so I can look back in 20 years and be like ‘I made that at the Olympics’ how cool is that?’
Tom and Matty, 23, beat China by just 1.23 points after a nerveless display as Daley collected his third Olympic medal.
Homage: In honour of his pivotal moment at the games, Tom took to his knitting and crocheting Instagram page to reveal the medal pouch, which bears the Union Jack on one side and the Japanese flag on the other
Daley made his Olympic debut as a 14-year-old in Beijing and won bronze at London 2012 and Rio five years ago.
Daley and Lee were not expected to win, with China the favourites, but they never dropped out of the top two and finished with a score of 471.81 following an exceptional forward four-and-a-half somersaults pike when the pressure was on in the final round.
China’s poor fourth-round dive let the Team GB pair take the lead and they never looked back, with the ROC claiming bronze.
‘It’s kind of unbelievable. I dreamt, as has Matty, since I started diving 20 years ago for this moment,’ said Daley.
He said: ‘One thing that has kept me sane throughout this process is my love for knitting and crocheting ‘This means I can carry around my medal without it getting scratched!’
‘I thought I was going to win an Olympic gold in Rio and that turned out the complete opposite by a long shot.
‘My husband said to me my story wasn’t finished and my son (Robbie) needed to be there to watch me win an Olympic gold medal.
‘I can say my son watched me become an Olympic champion, albeit on TV as they couldn’t be here. It’s such a great feeling.’
Lee added: ‘It felt crazy, obviously. In October 2018 I moved my whole life to London from Leeds. I was away from my family and friends, everyone. I had nothing in London. Our aim was to win an Olympic medal.
They did it! Tom and Matty, 23, beat China by just 1.23 points after a nerveless display as Daley collected his third Olympic medal
Nervy: The British pair faced an agonising wait after the Chinese pair were last to dive but it was not enough to go and beat Team GB
‘To be able to put the well-deserved gold medal around his neck was really special to me and I’m very very proud of him. Obviously it’s my dream to be a gold medallist, an Olympic gold medallist, and it’s great to be able to have won that with him.’
Daley’s husband Dustin Lance Black won the Best Original Screenplay Oscar for Milk in 2008 but Daley admits he does not know whether his medal or the Oscar will take pride of place at home.
He said: ‘My husband’s Oscar goes in the downstairs loo. People often mistake it for a loobrush. We had to get an Oscar loobrush because people were picking it up and realising it was an actual Oscar, not just a toy.
‘I don’t know why he does that, he says he doesn’t want to give it any more power than it needs. He’s done it and moving on to the next thing.’
Moment in history: Tom’s triumph and tears at the Tokyo Olympics sparked an huge outpouring of joy – and tears – from friends and supporters