Olympic champion Tom Daley knits Tokyo 2020 gold medal case

Olympic champion Tom Daley has knitted an emotional keepsake to forever remind him of his first gold medal at Tokyo 2020 – a customised gold medal pouch.

The British sportsman, 27, broke down in tears as he and diving partner Matty Lee triumphed in the 10m synchronized platform event on Monday – his first gold medal in four Olympic games.

In honour of his pivotal moment at the games, Tom took to his knitting and crocheting Instagram page – Made With Love By Tom Daley – to reveal the medal pouch, which bears the Union Jack on one side and the Japanese flag on the other.

Mission accomplished: Olympic champion Tom Daley has knitted an emotional keepsake to forever remind him of his first gold medal at Tokyo 2020 – a customised gold medal pouch

He said: ‘One thing that has kept me sane throughout this process is my love for knitting and crocheting

‘This means I can carry around my medal without it getting scratched!’    

He captioned the video: ‘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!’

Finally: The British sportsman, 27, broke down in tears as he and diving partner Matty Lee triumphed in the 10m synchronized platform event on Monday - his first gold medal in four Olympic games

Finally: The British sportsman, 27, broke down in tears as he and diving partner Matty Lee triumphed in the 10m synchronized platform event on Monday – his first gold medal in four Olympic games

Tom has previously spoken about the cathartic effect knitting has on his mindset during competitions, saying:  ‘When we went to Japan for the test event I actually took my knitting with me and was doing it during my competition because sometimes there’s 45 minutes in between each dive so I’d sit there and knit and just take my mind off the competition completely. I’m obsessed!’

The father-of-one one joked that his one worry going into the Olympics is he will run out of yarn while he is there.   

He added: ‘I’m thinking of taking a little project out there where I’m going to try and create some kind of Olympic themed jumper so I can look back in 20 years and be like ‘I made that at the Olympics’ how cool is that?’

Tom and Matty, 23, beat China by just 1.23 points after a nerveless display as Daley collected his third Olympic medal.   

Homage: In honour of his pivotal moment at the games, Tom took to his knitting and crocheting Instagram page - Made With Love By Tom Daley - to reveal the medal pouch, which bears the Union Jack on one side and the Japanese flag on the other

Memory: The star showed off his knitting ability on his page

Homage: In honour of his pivotal moment at the games, Tom took to his knitting and crocheting Instagram page – Made With Love By Tom Daley – to reveal the medal pouch, which bears the Union Jack on one side and the Japanese flag on the other

Daley made his Olympic debut as a 14-year-old in Beijing and won bronze at London 2012 and Rio five years ago.

Daley and Lee were not expected to win, with China the favourites, but they never dropped out of the top two and finished with a score of 471.81 following an exceptional forward four-and-a-half somersaults pike when the pressure was on in the final round.  

China’s poor fourth-round dive let the Team GB pair take the lead and they never looked back, with the ROC claiming bronze.

“It’s kind of unbelievable. I dreamt, as has Matty, since I started diving 20 years ago for this moment,” said Daley.

He said: 'One thing that has kept me sane throughout this process is my love for knitting and crocheting 'This means I can carry around my medal without it getting scratched!'

He said: ‘One thing that has kept me sane throughout this process is my love for knitting and crocheting ‘This means I can carry around my medal without it getting scratched!’

“I thought I was going to win an Olympic gold in Rio and that turned out the complete opposite by a long shot.

“My husband said to me my story wasn’t finished and my son (Robbie) needed to be there to watch me win an Olympic gold medal.

“I can say my son watched me become an Olympic champion, albeit on TV as they couldn’t be here. It’s such a great feeling.”

Lee added: “It felt crazy, obviously. In October 2018 I moved my whole life to London from Leeds. I was away from my family and friends, everyone. I had nothing in London. Our aim was to win an Olympic medal.

They did it! Tom and Matty, 23, beat China by just 1.23 points after a nerveless display as Daley collected his third Olympic medal

They did it! Tom and Matty, 23, beat China by just 1.23 points after a nerveless display as Daley collected his third Olympic medal

Nervy: The British pair faced an agonising wait after the Chinese pair were last to dive but it was not enough to go and beat Team GB

Nervy: The British pair faced an agonising wait after the Chinese pair were last to dive but it was not enough to go and beat Team GB

“To be able to put the well-deserved gold medal around his neck was really special to me and I’m very very proud of him. Obviously it’s my dream to be a gold medallist, an Olympic gold medallist, and it’s great to be able to have won that with him.”  

Daley’s husband Dustin Lance Black won the Best Original Screenplay Oscar for Milk in 2008 but Daley admits he does not know whether his medal or the Oscar will take pride of place at home.

He said: “My husband’s Oscar goes in the downstairs loo. People often mistake it for a loobrush. We had to get an Oscar loobrush because people were picking it up and realising it was an actual Oscar, not just a toy.

“I don’t know why he does that, he says he doesn’t want to give it any more power than it needs. He’s done it and moving on to the next thing.”

Moment in history: Tom's triumph and tears at the Tokyo Olympics sparked an huge outpouring of joy - and tears - from friends and supporters

Moment in history: Tom’s triumph and tears at the Tokyo Olympics sparked an huge outpouring of joy – and tears – from friends and supporters

Family: Tom is married to Dustin Lance Black and the pair share son Robbie, three (pictured)

Family: Tom is married to Dustin Lance Black and the pair share son Robbie, three (pictured)