It’s not just in the synchronized water jump event – worthy of the gold medal he won – that Tom Daley draws the attention of the cameras. In the stands, while watching the final of the three-meter trampoline jump, the athlete was caught in an activity that is not part of this competition: knitting. The 27-year-old, a UK national icon and an active advocate of LGBTI rights, has now also come to prove that knitting is not just for old ladies.
On Sunday, wearing British gear and wearing a mask, Tom Daley was knitting a piece of purple wool on the benches at the Aquatic Center in Tokyo. The moment was captured by the cameras, in the third round of trampoline dives, shortly after the Chinese athlete Shi Tingmao have completed your second dive. At that time, there were no English swimmers in competition, so the young man decided to entertain himself in the stands.
Nothing to see here – just @TomDaley1994 having a knit at the diving ??#TeamGB pic.twitter.com/TzDETYW28a
— Team GB (@TeamGB) August 1, 2021
Initially, it was thought that she was knitting a hat for her son, three-year-old Robbie, as a result of her relationship with 47-year-old North American producer and screenwriter Dustin Lance Black, whom she married in 2017 — Daley came out as a homosexual at age 19, in a published video no YouTube —, after all, the Olympic athlete would be knitting a knitted sweater for Pets.
Tom Daley says knitting is his “secret weapon.” This Monday, he published images of the various sweaters he has made for dogs. “This is what I was doing in the pool yesterday”, wrote the athlete. Last week, on your Instagram page dedicated to knitting, published the photo of the knitted protection that he knitted for his gold medal, to prevent it from getting “scratched”. The bag is knitted with the UK flag pattern on one side and the Japanese flag pattern on the other. “The only thing that kept me sane throughout this process [confinamentos e adiamento dos Jogos Olímpicos] it was my love for knitting, crochet and all things sewing”, told the more than 100,000 followers of his Instagram page.
The images of the player knitting on the benches at the Aquatic Center quickly went viral. “I have a new idol”, wrote an Italian user on Twitter. “Is there a perfect man? Yes”, commented, in turn, another. The British Rossana Lockwood seems to have spoken for all the English: “Just confirming the national treasure status in my eyes”. Another user suggests that the swimmer may have started a trend, the race for knitting material: “And suddenly knitting needle sales skyrocketed faster than when Kate Middleton wears a dress from a brand of high street.”
Does the perfect man exist?
AND.#TomDaley #Olympic Games #Tokyo2020 #OlympicGames pic.twitter.com/PAYMmHt8bF— David De (@davided81) August 1, 2021
Just confirming his National Treasure status in my eyes https://t.co/gY6FWXtVnq
— Rosanna Lockwood (@Roolockwood) August 1, 2021
This is the fourth time that Tom Daley has participated in the Olympic Games. He debuted in 2008 in Beijing, at just 14 years old. In Tokyo, he became the first British water jumper to win three Olympic medals, adding the gold to the two bronze medals he already had. As part of the restrictions of the pandemic, Olympic athletes must leave the Japanese capital within 48 hours of competing, but the young man still has one more ten-meter jump to make. Daley’s last dive in Tokyo should take place next Saturday, August 7th. Until then, he can be found knitting on the benches.
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