Olympic diver knits a sweater by poolside

Writer: Li Dan | Editor: Zhang Piaoyin | From: Shenzhen Daily | Updated: 2024-08-06

While most Olympic divers sitting poolside at Paris’ Aquatic Center are anxiously twiddling their thumbs, one athlete has been twiddling a pair of knitting needles.

Tom Daley, the 30-year-old Team GB diver who won his fifth Olympic medal last week, has unveiled his latest achievement: a handknitted Paris Games-themed sweater. Red, white and blue all over, the design features a flag trim alternating between France’s tricolor ensign and Britain’s Union Jack. The chest is emblazoned with “Paris 24” — the “A” elongated to represent the Eiffel Tower — while a “5” appears on the sleeve, a nod to the diver’s fifth Olympic appearance. On the back, “Daley” is spelled out in wide white letters.

The gold-medalist has been keeping fans updated on the progress of his pullover via his dedicated craft Instagram @madewithlovebytomdaley, which boasts over a million followers. Daley has been photographed knitting during every stolen moment while in Paris for the Olympic Games — whether he is watching his teammates compete or resting between his own events.

“I don’t know how to just do nothing,” Daley said. “It was my husband (Oscar-winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black) who said that lots of people knit squares while they are waiting on film sets so I thought I’d give that a go. I went on to the ‘university of YouTube’ and taught myself how to knit and never looked back!”

This is Daley’s second Olympic-themed sweater, and the endeavor is fast becoming something of a tradition. Daley began knitting during lockdown in 2020, as many young people did to cope with social starvation, and began making knitwear to commemorate his time at the Games back in that same year with a cream colored cardigan embroidered with “Tokyo” in Japanese. “I wanted to make something that would remind me of the Olympics to look back on in the future,” he wrote on Instagram Today. Those who feel truly inspired even can buy a Tom Daley branded knitting kit which includes a pattern, two sets of knitting needles and 14 balls of wool.

The diver, who added that for him “diving and knitting go hand–in-hand,” went on to say he finds inspiration in lots of different places. “I saw a bee land on my arm and I thought ‘that could make an interesting jumper’ so I made a bee inspired design,” he said, but added that with the 2024 Games, there were certain elements he wanted to feature. “I wanted to incorporate Paris, the flags, the colors and (create) something as a real memento,” he explained.

(SD-Agencies)

大多数奥运跳水运动员坐在巴黎水上运动中心的泳池边焦急地捻着拇指时，有一位却在织毛衣。

上周赢得第五枚奥运奖牌后，30岁的英国队跳水运动员汤姆•戴利展示了他的新成就：一件以巴黎奥运会为主题的手工编织毛衣。这件毛衣通体红、白、蓝三色，底边交替装饰着法国的三色旗和英国国旗，胸前是字母“Paris 24”（A被拉长，代表埃菲尔铁塔），袖子上印有“5”（代表戴利第五次出征奥运）。毛衣背面则用宽大的白色字母拼出他的名字Daley。

这位前金牌得主一直通过他专注于手工编织的账号 Instagram @madewithlovebytomdaley向粉丝介绍这件套头毛衣的最新进展，他的Instagram拥有超过一百万粉丝。戴利在巴黎参加奥运期间，无论是观看队友比赛，还是在自己的比赛间隙休息，每一个闲暇都被拍到在织毛衣。戴利说：“无所事事我做不到。我丈夫（奥斯卡获奖编剧达斯汀•兰斯•布莱克）说，很多人在片场等候时都用编织打发时间，所以我也想试试。我在‘YouTube大学’自学，从此一发不可收拾！”

这是戴利的第二件奥运主题毛衣，这个做法已经成了一种传统。戴利是在2020年疫情隔离期间开始织毛衣的，当时许多年轻人开始想办法填补缺乏社交的无聊，戴利也开始编织毛衣来纪念他的奥运征程，他织了一件绣有日文“东京”的乳白色开衫。他在 “Instagram今日”上写：“我想做一些能让我回想起奥运的纪念品。他的铁粉甚至可以购买汤姆•戴利牌的编织工具包，包括一个图样、两套织针和 14团羊毛毛线。

戴利补充说，对他来说，“跳水和编织是齐头并进的”。他在很多不同的地方找到灵感。他说：“一只蜜蜂落在我的手臂上，我想‘这可能会成为一件有趣的毛衣’，我就以蜜蜂为灵感设计一件毛衣。”

关于巴黎奥运，他觉得有些元素必须有。他说：“我想把巴黎、国旗、主题色融入其中，（创造）一件真正的纪念品。”(Translated by Debra)

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