Tom Daley knows how to steal the hearts of Olympic fans. He did it as a 14-year-old when he first competed in Beijing and again in Tokyo when he finally won his elusive first gold.
Since then he has caught the eye while supporting his teammates, with some elaborate knitting of an eye-catching Olympic cardigan.
And on Daley’s return to action, qualifying in fourth for the semi-finals of the 10m platform, he explained that the knitting is more than just a hobby, it’s a technique to keep calm and relax during the stress of the Games.
He explained: “I think it’s made a massive difference. There’s a long time between the individual and the synchro and there’s a lot of time to think.
“My time to think has been replaced with knitting. It’s such a great and welcome distraction for me to be mindful, but also resting. I’m someone that’s really bed at resting.
“I sit and fidget and bite my nails, whatever it is, so being able knit has been a really helpful thing. I was knitting my Team GB cardigan earlier that I posted on Instagram to try to raise money for the brain tumour charity at the same time.
“It’s something I wanted to do as a memento from my time here in Tokyo. In between rounds I was knitting because it allows you to come out of it a little bit. If you’re constantly thinking about diving, you’re all the way up here, it can be quite draining. So to be able to come out of it and go back into it helps a lot.”
It certainly seemed to work on Friday as Daley overcame a slow start to secure a safe passage through to Saturday morning’s semi-finals.
.@TomDaley1994 has qualified in fourth place for tomorrow's 10m platform semi-finals.
— Team GB (@TeamGB) August 6, 2021
Fellow Brit and Olympic debutant Noah Williams finishes the competition in 27th place. #TeamGB pic.twitter.com/Eeq1Litrnr
Five years ago in Rio, Daley was first after qualifying, only to miss out in the semi-finals, so he is hoping to have learned from that experience.
He added: “Overall I’m happy to have qualified. The difference between qualifying in first and qualifying in 18th in a semi-final, I learned in Rio that you can win a prelim but you have to be able to consistently survive through the rounds to get to the final where it actually counts.
“My first dive wasn’t great but I’ve been feeling really good out there, I’m moving really well, the height of my dives is really good. I’m making everything really easily. I just have to make those micro adjustments.
“I feel like that comes from, when you haven’t competed for a while and all of a sudden, you’re competing at the Olympic Games, there’s quite a lot of adrenaline.
“So being to handle that, once I got into the swing of it, it felt good to be out there and I’ve been having a lot of fun.”
Daley's compatriot Noah Williams, 21, missed out on the semi-finals, finishing 27th, with just the top 18 making it through.