Of course there are the medals, but did you know some of the Olympians wear jewelry as part of their uniform? Ranging in purpose from fashion statements to good luck charms, jewelry is an important accessory for several of the athletes.
Olympic gymnasts are known for being "always sparkly", but most of the girls are wearing more than just glitzy leotards. In this interview with Nastia Liukin, she explains that no other jewelry is allowed. "You can only wear earrings. Nothing else. It's not allowed, but also you don't want to get in the way of anything that you're doing. Like when you're on the uneven bars you can't be wearing a ring because you just can't. I always used to have these diamond studs that I wore for every competition that my parents gave me. It was kind of good luck. I know Aly Raisman wears some earrings that are red, white and blue. She wears those for every competition and that's her thing. I think some athletes don't want to wear anything - no earrings I mean. So it's really just a personal preference."
Olympic soccer gold medalist, Kelley O'Hara wears a family jewelry piece and a congratulatory keepsake. "I wear two necklaces: one is an apostrophe for the apostrophe in my last name, O'Hara. My mom and my sister and my brother's fiance all have the same necklace so that's kind of a fun family thing. And Under Armour made necklaces for Lauren Holiday and me after we won the World Cup. It's a gold bar that says, "I will what I want" and on the back, it has the date of the world cup final. They're not really good luck charms, but I like what they stand for and whenever I see them, they make me happy..."
Then there's Team USA swimmer, Kathleen Baker, and her signature pearls, which made headlines..."On Sunday, during the preliminaries for the 100m women's backstroke, Kathleen lost one of her signature pearl earrings to Rio's Olympic pool, the depths of which reach almost ten feet. Thankfully, a diver went down to search for the earrings, uncovering the pearl in Baker's own lane around the 15 meter mark. The whole affair inspired a Vermeer-related quip from NBC's reporter who joked that the silver medal winner, "remains the girl with two pearl earrings." - People.com
It's great to see team USA shine in the medals and in their accessories.