Are there no ends to Tom Daley’s talents? Fresh from winning gold on the men's 10-metre platform, the British diver has sent fans wild with another skill – knitting.
The star turned out to show support to his fellow Olympians during Sunday’s women’s springboard finals, and he packed his knitting needles, getting to work on a pink and purple creation as he watched the action.
"There's Tom Daley – he's got his knitting needles out," BBC commentator Katherine Downes pointed out during Sunday morning’s live coverage, asking the question everyone was thinking. "What do you reckon he's crafting there? I wonder who he's making that purple concoction for?"
And it wasn’t only Downes and viewers at home wondering, either. Daley was also snapped showing his handiwork off to his fellow Team GB athletes in the stalls.
Daley has made his love of knitting evident, calling it his “secret weapon”. Although, with more than 370,000 followers on his dedicated Instagram account, @madewithlovebytomdaley, perhaps it’s not-so-secret any more.
"The one thing that has kept me sane throughout this whole process is my love for knitting and crochet and all things stitching," he told followers on the Instagram page, which has tripled its followers overnight.
Earlier this week, he also revealed he had knitted himself “a little cosy” to store his new gold medal. Showing off his knitting prowess, Daley revealed the pouch had the pattern of the Union Jack on one side, and the Japanese flag on the other.
Naturally, the images of Daley knitting at the Olympics have gone viral, winning him many new fans around the world.
“I have a new idol," wrote one Italian fan.
“Tom Daley is my favourite person in the world”, another fan said.
Another fan compared it to another viral internet moment.
“Tom Daley knitting at the Olympics is the same vibe as harry styles peeling an orange at an award show,” they wrote.
Daley, 27, won his first Olympic gold alongside diving partner, Matty Lee, in the 10-metre synchronised event last week. It is his fourth time competing at an Olympics, making his debut at the age of 14 in Beijing.
He still has one event left at the Tokyo Olympics, competing in the individual 10-metre platform event. Preliminaries will be held on Friday and the final takes place on Saturday.
