In the wake of Tom Daley’s retirement from diving, let’s look at his Olympic knitting career

Tom Daley made a splash during his 2008 Olympic debut in Beijing as a 14-year-old diver from Great Britain.

After competing at five Games, the five-time Olympic medalist confirmed his retirement from diving on Monday.

“It was emotional at the end, up there on the platform, knowing it was going to be my last competitive dive. But I have to make the decision at some point, and it feels like the right time. It’s the right time to call it a day,” Daley said of his decision to retire from competitive diving, per The Guardian .

The gold medalist routinely impressed the diving world with his skills in the synchronized 10-meter platform event, but he also made waves in the knitting world.

Tom Daley’s knitting

During the 2020 Tokyo Games, Daley was seen watching fellow divers from the bleachers with several balls of yarn and a pair of knitting needles.

First, he knitted a purple-pink pouch , then an intricate cardigan and finally a Union Jack-patterned case for his gold medal.

“Thank you to all my fellow stitchers,” Daley wrote on Instagram during the Tokyo Games. “Learning to knit and crochet has helped me so much through these Olympics.”

Daley learned to knit ahead of the Tokyo Games watching YouTube videos and with help from a coach on the British team, he told Knit Rowan in 2021.

“I started knitting a year ago (March 2020). It was something I started to learn on a trip to Canada from a YouTube video. I was absolutely awful at first, I couldn’t get the hang of it,” he said. “One of the Australian divers and one of the Russian divers on that trip helped me while we were there and then on the flight home, one of our coaches on the British team gave me some tips and then with a lot of practice I started getting the hang of it.”

Between the Tokyo and Paris Games, the diver kept busy with several knitting projects and launching his own yarn line, The Cottony One . At the 2024 Games, Daley kept busy knitting once again.

What did Tom Daley knit at the Olympics?

Daley has knitted two Olympic-themed sweaters while competing at the 2020 and 2024 Games. Both sweaters were designed by the diver.

He keeps fans updated with his projects made both at the Olympic Games and at home through his knitting-focused Instagram account .

Here are Daley’s two Olympic Games-inspired sweaters:

Tokyo 2020 Olympics

“When I got to Tokyo, I wanted to make something that would remind me of the Olympics to look back on in the future. I designed a pattern for the color work that would that would signify everything about these games!” Daley wrote on his knitting Instagram page .

“On the back I went for a classic (team Great Britain) logo, the shoulders have a flag and GBR on them. For the front I wanted to keep it simple and I tried my best to embroider TOKYO in Japanese!”

Paris 2024 Olympics

“It’s far too hot to be wearing this in Paris, but I thought I’d do a little reveal of everything I’ve been making,” Daley said in an Instagram clip . “It’s always so fun to have this as a little bit of a memory from my time here in Paris, but I think it’s cute.”

Tom Daley’s knitting book and line of yarn

As Daley closes the door on his professional diving career, it could open up time for him to focus more time on a professional knitting career.

He has already released a pattern book, “Made With Love,” and his own line of yarn, The Cottony One. Daley also keeps his fans updated on his projects via his knitting Instagram page .

Daley has not announced any upcoming knitting-inspired projects but will likely keeps fans up to date via social media.