The 27-year-old Brit took up the hobbies just before the coronavirus pandemic began in March 2020. He taught himself by watching online tutorials, and learned from other divers and one of the British coaches, too. During the lockdown, he had plenty of time to perfect his skills.

Daley knits only during the preliminaries of competitions, when there are long stretches between dives, as a way to switch off his mind.

“If you stay all the way up here with your energy levels and thinking about the dives," he said, "it ends up becoming quite draining by the end of it.” Daley's handiwork has drawn attention online during the Tokyo Games. He knitted a dog sweater for a friend's pet.

“Then one of the officials came up to me and has a little toy, so I was actually knitting the toy a scarf,” he said.