Small details tell Olympian-sized stories
Olympians don't reach the pinnacle of their sports without sweating the small stuff.
Look closely, and the details tell a revealing tale.
China's Chen Meng has a passion for table tennis that propeled her to a gold medal in women's singles. She wears it on her sleeve — well, actually, around her neck, with a necklace featuring interlocked gold paddles.
Zoom in and see the precise polish job on American sprinter Javianne Oliver's fingernails. Or the dust pan full of .22 LR caliber shell casings after a day on the shooting range.
China's Chen Meng wears necklace featuring rackets during the table tennis women's singles gold medal match at the 2020 Summer Olympics, July 29, 2021, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
Indian archer Atanu Das puts some Olympic pride into every shot — the hand he uses to release his arrows features a small ring cut to look like the Olympic rings. Canadian diver Jennifer Abel and Dominican volleyball player Lisvel Elisa Eve Mejia show similar enthusiasm — like many other athletes — with tattoos of the famed Olympic logo.
Germany's Nike Lorenz has an even more personal touch. The field hockey player was cleared by organizers to wear rainbow colors with her uniform, and her shin guards include a spectrum of colors, topped by the black, red and yellow of Germany's flag.
Text from AP News, Small details tell Olympian-sized stories