Tom Daley celebrates Olympic gold medal by merging his passions – diving and knitting

Tom and Matty took the gold medal (Picture: PA)

Tom Daley may be an Olympic gold medallist, but that doesn’t mean he’s giving up his other passion – knitting.

The 27-year-old celebrated winning the gold with Matty Lee in the men’s synchronised 10m platform by knitting a caddy for his medal, and it’s extremely adorable.

The diver showed off his creation on his Instagram stories, saying: ‘If you’ve been following me for a while now, you’ll know that I’m a little bit knitting obsessed, and I kept on banging my medal. So what I decided to do was make a little case for my medal.’

Tom whipped up a little woollen caddy for his medal, with a Union Jack on one side and the Japanese flag on the other, to symbolise the Tokyo Olympics.

He proudly said: ‘Now my medal is not gonna get scratched.’

Tom also shared his design over on his knitting and crocheting page, Made with Love by Tom Daley, and said: ‘The one thing that has kept me sane throughout this whole process is my love for knitting, crocheting and all things stitching.’

Tom is an avid knitter (Picture: @tomdaley)

On the page, the athlete has been sharing his knitted and crocheted creations since last September – from chunky sweaters for himself, to baby booties for friends and hats for his and husband Dustin Lance Black’s son, Robbie.

Dustin, 47, remained in the UK with their three-year-old son and watched on television as Tom and Matty nailed their dive to take gold at the Tokyo Olympics.

Tom has competed at four Olympics in 13 years, but this was his first gold medal, and the emotion of the occasion was evident as he teared up from behind his face mask on the podium.

The star wrote on social media: ‘I still can’t believe we actually did it! After 4 Olympics and 20 years of diving! An Olympic Gold medal! And to do it with @mattydiver was all the more special! 

The star had some time to spare (Picture: @tomdaley)

It’s been a long time coming for the athlete (Picture: Clive Rose/Getty Images)

‘I wish my family was there to see it, but knowing my Husband and Son got to see us (📺) win Olympic Gold is NEXT LEVEL! 🥇🔥🇯🇵🇬🇧 Massive thank you to everyone who made this possible! You have all played such a huge role in making this happen!’

Tom also went viral for his statement about being an openly gay Olympian at the press conference following Team GB’s win.

Tom, who came out in 2013, said: ‘I feel incredibly proud to say that I am a gay man and also an Olympic champion. 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.

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‘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.’

So far, Team GB is fifth in the medal table, with five silver medals, four bronze, and four golds – Tom and Matty’s diving medal, Thomas Pidcock in men’s mountain bike, Adam Peaty in the men’s 100m breaststroke, and Tom Dean in the men’s 200m freestyle. 

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