With 2026 set to be a banner year for sport, Condé Nast Traveller turns its attention to the artisans behind the action. Across the UK, we’re spotlighting the makers crafting the equipment, uniforms and tools that make sport possible – while keeping ancient craft and local tradition alive in the process. See more from our Sports & Craft series here.
Precision, skill, practice and discipline – the qualities that make a successful athlete are the same ones that shape great craftsmanship. But the connection between the two goes deeper. For as long as the two have existed, they’ve worked in tandem. Throughout history, we’ve learned of battles, tournaments, and competitions via art. The first Olympic Games were immortalised on amphorae; knights were sent into wars with shields adorned with coats of arms. Today, competitive sports are made possible by decades of honed artisanship, intricate detailing, and expertise passed down through generations.
From leather-bound horse saddles and skillfully hewn cricket bats to carefully strung tennis rackets and hand-stitched cricket balls, the modern world of sport is heavily reliant on craftwork. There’s a shared ethos in both craft and sport – a desire to hone a skill, a goal to create something special. It’s unsurprising, then, to learn that athletes often engage in their own craft hobbies in their downtime. Serena Williams has spoken of her love of ceramics; Terry Crews paints in his spare time, and David Beckham took up sewing after his daughter Harper was born.
Perhaps the most famous example of an athlete immersing themself within the world of craft, however, is Tom Daley. The diving world champion started knitting during lockdown. It’s not the first thing you’d expect to hear about a 25-year-old athlete, deep in the throes of preparing for the 2020 Olympics. But when Covid took hold, and the Games were postponed until 2021, he was in need of a distraction.
“I first started back in March 2020 because my coach told me that I never sat still and that I never spent enough time resting and recovering on the weekends,” he explains. “It was actually my husband who suggested I try knitting. I gave it a go, and then became completely obsessed with it. It was right before lockdown, so I had lots more time to practice. It kind of became my superpower. It was my mindfulness – my way of being able to switch off from everything else around me, and stay present.”
