{"id":13489,"date":"2024-08-01T08:49:46","date_gmt":"2024-08-01T08:49:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/used82.com\/?p=13489"},"modified":"2024-08-01T08:49:46","modified_gmt":"2024-08-01T08:49:46","slug":"real-reason-why-olympic-athletes-have-the-same-tattoo-and-the-superstitions-behind-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/used82.com\/?p=13489","title":{"rendered":"Real reason why Olympic athletes have the same tattoo and the superstitions behind it"},"content":{"rendered":"

The man who started the trend has revealed why Olympians tend to ink-up<\/h2>\n

The Olympics – it is the most prestigious sporting competition in the world.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The elite of the elite face-off against each other on the global stage and only the very best come home with medals, although finishing last in a contest as impressive as the\u00a0Olympics<\/a>\u00a0is a feat in itself.<\/p>\n

For the rest of your life you could call yourself an Olympian – even when your body is old and withered, it still holds true.<\/p>\n

\n
\"All-around<\/div>\n

All-around gymnastics champion Simone Biles with her Olympic tattoo. (Instagram\/@simonebiles)<\/cite><\/div>\n

Well, other than it being an iconic symbol recognised anywhere on\u00a0Earth<\/a>\u00a0– okay maybe not by those on the\u00a0North Sentinel Island<\/a>\u00a0– it holds a powerful message and there is a reason why so many Olympic athletes get those infamous five rings tattooed on their bodies.<\/p>\n

But before we get into why they do it, and the superstitions many believe getting it inked holds… we’ll dive into its history.<\/p>\n

For this we’ll have to hark back 36 years, before even my time (I’m only 27 but with the groins I make getting up from the couch you’d think I was furniture to this planet now), to 1988.<\/p>\n

Enter Team\u00a0USA’s<\/a>\u00a0Christopher Jacobs.<\/p>\n

\n
\"The<\/div>\n

The 1988 Olympics Men’s 4x100M Freestyle Relay winning USA Team Matt Biondi, Tom Jager, Troy Dalbey, and Christopher Jacobs. (Heinz Kluetmeier \/Sports Illustrated via Getty Images)<\/cite><\/div>\n

The swimmer is a two-time Olympic gold medallist, former world record holder, and silver medallist.<\/p>\n

At the young age of just 23, he is the man who is credited to starting the trend of getting the five rings inked on his skin.<\/p>\n

He picked up all his medals at his one and only Olympics at the 1988 Seoul Games.<\/p>\n

While at the games he noticed that his Canadian counterparts had small tattoos of the Canadian flag emblazoned on their chests, Jacobs decided he wanted to get a tattoo of his own.<\/p>\n

After scooping three medals he visited Hawaii on the way home to celebrate, and while there he got a small Olympics logo tattooed on his hip – the only part of his body that he could hide under his speedos at future competitions.<\/p>\n

\n
\"Team<\/div>\n

Team USA volleyball player Thomas Jaeschke celebrates after beating Germany during the Paris 2024 Olympics with his tattoo on full show. (NATALIA KOLESNIKOVA\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/cite><\/div>\n

But that wasn’t enough.<\/p>\n

The 59-year-old then decided to get another a bit higher up on his hip, and then later he got a big colorful one on the inside of his right bicep.<\/p>\n

Speaking about<\/a>\u00a0the trend to USA Today, and the reason behind why Olympians from across the globe decide to ink-up, he said: “I do think it\u2019s become a rite of passage. It\u2019s almost like a little card for a somewhat exclusive club.<\/p>\n

“They represent a lot to a lot of people. I wanted to mark that period in my life, I suppose.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
\"Singaporean<\/div>\n

Singaporean Swimmer Joseph Schooling showing off his new Olympic ink. (Suhaimi Abdullah\/Getty Images)<\/cite><\/div>\n

Since then, some of the biggest stars in sport, including the\u00a0US<\/a>‘\u00a0Michael Phelps<\/a>\u00a0– one of the most decorated Olympians of all time.<\/p>\n

There are many, many, more – including notable names such as women’s all-around gymnastic champion Simone Biles, and the reigning 100m sprint world champion Noah Lyles.<\/p>\n

So, what’s the superstition?<\/p>\n

According to US shooter Mary Tucker, athletes should only get it after they have competed in the Olympics – stating to the publication that she knew of at least four people who jumped the gun and got inked up ahead of qualifying, but never ended up competing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The man who started the trend has revealed why Olympians tend to ink-up The Olympics…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13489","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"views":131,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/used82.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13489","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/used82.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/used82.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/used82.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/used82.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13489"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/used82.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13489\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/used82.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13489"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/used82.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13489"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/used82.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13489"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}