Tom Daley has knitted jumpers, cardigans and speedos, and now the retired Olympic diving champion is displaying his most colourful creations yet with an exhibition of his handicrafts in Tokyo.
The Briton on Friday returned to the city where he won Olympic gold with Matty Lee three years ago to open a showcase of his knitting and crocheting, which runs until November 25.
It features technicolour jumpers, day-glo sweaters and the Olympic-themed cardigan that made him a viral sensation when he was spotted knitting it while waiting to compete at the Tokyo Games in 2021.
The 30-year-old retired from diving after winning silver at this year’s Paris Olympics, and said he was now able to “explore other things” with more time on his hands.
“For me, knitting is my way of escape — it’s the thing that I think helped me win an Olympic gold medal here in Tokyo,” Daley told AFP.
“I take people on the journey of how I learned how to knit, why I learned how to knit, and then taking it all the way through to all of my creations.
“People will be able to see my Olympic medals as well.”
Daley says he took up the hobby in 2020 as a way of forcing himself to sit still and allow his body to recover from training sessions, but then “became completely obsessed by it”.
He has rarely put down his needles since — even posing in knitted speedos — and hopes his love for knitting comes across in the exhibition.
“For me it’s about the community, it’s about the craft, it’s about being hand-made and slowing down,” he said.
“That’s something that I love about knitting, that it’s incredibly valuable for mental health as well.”
Passion for knitting
Daley was on hand to give a workshop to visitors on the exhibition’s opening day.
Some of his creations on display will be sold at auction, with the proceeds going to a Tokyo-based LGBTQ organisation.
Daley says he would like to do another show, and is enjoying having more time since retiring from diving.
He says he hopes to be involved in broadcast work at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, where he lives with his husband Dustin Lance Black and their children.
Daley says he also wants to expand on his “passion for knitting”, and “bring that to as many people as possible”.
“If someone had told me five years ago that I was going to be more famous for knitting than diving, I probably would have laughed,” he said.
“But it’s one of those things… I can’t imagine my life now without knitting.”