Celebrity
Tom Daley Hand-Knitted An Adorable "Cosy" For His Olympic Gold Medal
The diver said knitting was one of the things that kept him sane during training.
At his fourth Olympic Games, Tom Daley won his first gold medal in the men’s synchronised 10 metres platform with his partner Matty Lee. The 27-year-old is one of the most well-recognisable Olympians in the UK and his journey to Olympic gold has been long and, at times, difficult. However, in an Instagram post, Tom Daley revealed that knitting and crochet have helped him deal with the pressure of Tokyo 2020 and his crafty creations mean he’ll never misplace his gold medal.
Fans were elated to see Daley come out on top on July 26. On July 27 he posted a clip on Made With Love By Tom Daley, his knitting and crochet Instagram page. Excuse me while I process this ridiculously cute bit of information.
He told the account’s 103k followers, “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! YAY!”
He unveiled the cosy that he plans on keeping his medal in. On one side it’s patterned with the Union Jack and on the other side, it’s the Japanese flag. Daley explained that the pouch will stop his medal from getting scratched and it all tucks in very neatly so it can travel safely home with him at the end of the games.
Since winning gold, Daley has opened up about what the in means for him as an athlete but also on a personal level. “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,” he said during his interview after the dive. “To be an Olympic champion now just shows that you can achieve anything.”
Daley came out as gay in 2013, following his performance at the Olympics in London. He’d been under the spotlight since his first Olympic Games in 2008 when he was just 14. On his Youtube channel, he made the decision to tell his followers that he’d fallen in love and it happened to be with a man. The Guardian writes that he met Dustin Lance Black at a dinner party that year and the pair have been together ever since. They got married in 2017 and have a son together, Robert.
Speaking in Tokyo he said, “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.”
