FILE PHOTO: Paris 2024 Olympics - Artistic Gymnastics - Women's Podium Training - Bercy Arena, Paris, France - July 25, 2024. Simone Biles of United States on the uneven bars during training. REUTERS/Amanda Perobelli/File Photo PARIS - When Simone Biles steps under the lights of Bercy Arena on Sunday in one of the Paris Olympics' most anticipated events, there will be something for fans of gymnastics and haute couture alike.
Team USA's five women will be donning a collection of hand-crafted, crystal-studded leotards costing thousands of dollars in a display befitting the Games' fashion-conscious host city. Drawing inspiration from the U.S.
Independence Day fireworks and Paris as the City of Lights, the blue-red-and-white leos, designed and made by Pennsylvania-based GK Elite Sportswear, are adorned with thousands of Swarovski crystals as well as pearls. The U.S.
women debuted one of the costumes - featuring a blend of 3,423 Brilliance and Turquoise Shimmer Swarovski crystals - at a training session this week. Samantha Peszek, a U.S.
team silver medallist from 2008 turned NBC analyst, said the dazzling leotards were part of the sport's evolution into the fashion world. "I know one of the French gymnasts had a designer leo made for her and a lot of U.S.
athletes, Jordan Chiles in particular, leaned on fashion icons like Beyonce to design their leotards and their nails," she told Reuters. "There's this artistic fashion component that is just beginning in the world of gymnastics..