Some Olympic athletes commemorate the games with some ink, while others use body art as motivation. From alligators to Bible passages, can you match the artwork to its Olympian owner competing in London?
1. Which taekwondo practitioner got Lord of the Rings quotation “All we have to do is decide what to do with the time given to us” tattooed on her arm? Underneath the quote and Olympic rings is the date she competed in the 2008 Beijing Games and the date she will perform in London.
Answer: The Tolkien fan is Karine Sergerie, a member of the Canadian taekwondo team. This is her second time at the Olympics, and Sergerie is already Canada’s first taekwondo world champion.
© Mathieu Belanger / Reuters
2. This Olympic hopeful may not have been No. 1 in his sport, but that didn’t stop him from getting his aspirations tattooed across his back along with the words “Chosen One.”
Answer: You might be clued in to his sport by the gloves dangling under the bold “#1.” This tattoo is inked onto American boxer Rau’shee Warren, who does have reason to be boastful: in 2004 the 17-year-old was the youngest boxer and youngest U.S. male to compete in Athens.
VICTORIA WILL
3. Many Olympians pick a rings tattoo to commemorate their competition, but this swimmer chose a trail of butterflies crossing from her upper thigh to her back and peeking out from behind her suit.
Answer: Russian synchronized swimmer Anastasia Davydova is a four-time Olympic champion.
Greg Baker
4. Religious tattoos have always been popular. This athlete from Team USA combined a biblical passage from the Second Book of Samuel with Olympic rings, a dove, and the year she competed in Athens. The quotation, appropriately, reads: “He maketh my feet like hinds’ feet and setteth me upon my high places.”
Answer: American hurdler Joanna Hayes sports this elaborate ink on her upper thigh. She first got the dove and rings in 1999, when she won hurdles during her senior year at UCLA. She promised to get the art colored in once she made it to the Olympics, and she did just that five years later.
ALASTAIR GRANT
5. Not only is this Olympic prodigy covered in tattoos, he worked at a tattoo parlor after withdrawing from the 2004 Olympic trials. He also joined a band called Weapons of Mass Destruction, auctioned off his medals, stopped exercising, and started smoking and drinking.
Answer: The inked 2004 gold and silver medalist is swimmer Anthony Ervin, who after 12 years, is back in the Games and will be competing in London. During his first games, in Sydney, the then-19-year-old also got his first tattoo (of many to come): the Olympic rings.
Marcio Jose Sanchez
6. Many athletes thank God, their parents, or their coaches for getting them to where they are today. This gymnast knows that no matter who helped along the way, he got to where he is by earning it himself. Just in case he forgot, he got “What I deserve I earn” tattooed with wings on his back. Underneath, a cross with wings and two angels memorialize a lost loved one.
Answer: Louis Smith, a gymnast competing for Britain, earned a bronze medal in the 2008 Beijing Games and probably hopes to do the same, or better, this time around.
Matt Dunham
7. This cute aquatic scene has little to do with the sport its owner plays, but a dolphin leaping through the waves is tattooed on this Brazilian basketball player’s shoulder nevertheless. It’s just one of her 17 tattoos—she also has a caricature of Bugs Bunny on her leg, her favorite tattoo, and her parents’ names inscribed on each foot.
Answer: Érika De Souza is known in her native Brazil as “Dennis Rodman” because of her piercings, tattoos, and dyed hair. She plays on the Atlanta Dream in the WNBA and is a member of Brazil’s national basketball team.
Daniel Ochoa de Olza
8. A variety of designs adorn her body, but this lightweight boxer hasn’t forgotten about the Olympics. One side of her right arm has the word “Queen” down it and, underneath, the Olympic rings with the words “London 2012.”
Answer: The “Queen” tattoo may have been a spoiler, because that arm belongs to American boxer Queen Underwood, who is among the team of three U.S. women competing at this year’s Olympics—the first games to include women’s boxing. Underwood, who recently revealed she was abused by her father as a child, will be making her Olympic debut in London and, in her words, knows “people are going to feel this power when I get in the ring.”
Patrick Semansky
9. He’s to 2012 what Michael Phelps was to 2008, and with eight Olympic medals already under his belt, er, Speedo, this swimmer deserves the inked rings on his bicep. But that’s not his only tattoo—he also sports a fierce-looking alligator on his shoulder.
Answer: Ryan Lochte and his tattoos are getting a lot of attention in London. The proud owner of four gold, two silver, and two bronze medals and counting has another sparkly adornment—his infamous grill.
Mark J. Terrill
10. The 10 little characters on this Olympian’s calves show each part of his sport, the decathlon, which is so physically demanding that the winner is the only person to be called the “world’s greatest athlete.”
Answer: Andrei Krauchanka is a decathlete from Belarus and the silver medalist in Beijing. His tattoo details the 10 events demanded of decathletes, including the long jump, shot put, 400 meters, and pole vault.
Ian Walton
