This summer, the world watched as athletes strove to go higher, further and faster at the Paris 2024 Olympics to bring home the gold. Or silver. Or bronze. And, as eagle-eyed observers will have noticed, many of them did so adorned in quite a lot of their own fabulous hardware.
Noah Lyles won the 100m wearing a diamond-studded chain necklace
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From the diamond-studded chain necklace that Noah Lyles wore to win the 100m final (a piece attributed to the Village Jeweler in Lyles’ home town of Gainesville, Florida; it had previously created a custom “World Champion” ring for him) to the titanium Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra Ultra-Light watch on the Ukrainian high jumper Yaroslava Mahuchikh’s wrist as she leapt to an emotional victory, the Olympics haven’t felt this stylishly accessorised since the Eighties, when Florence Griffith Joyner (aka Flo-Jo) sprinted into the record books wearing her trademark gold bracelets, rings and a set of crystal-embellished talons.
The Ukrainian high jumper Yaroslava Mahuchikh and her Omega watch
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Competitors can wear jewellery “including body piercings and watches”, provided they don’t bear obvious logos that conflict with the event’s commercial partners, according to the guidelines set out by UK Athletics and World Athletics. Watches are allowed in warm-up areas and “the field of play”, but not in the areas leading up to, or on, the winner’s podium.
“As long as our watches and jewellery don’t interfere with our performance or safety, the rules are pretty relaxed,” says Team GB’s Scott Brash, the gold medallist equestrian and Rolex ambassador who wears a GMT-Master II, which he received for winning the Rolex Grand Slam (a series of showjumping events considered to be the toughest challenge in the sport). He is also sponsored by the diamond jeweller Lugano.
Team GB’s Scott Brash wears a Rolex when showjumping
Incidents of jewellery interfering with competition are rare. In Rio in 2016, a scuba diver had to be dispatched to retrieve an earring belonging to the US swimmer Kathleen Baker after it fell off during a heat for the 100m backstroke. Reunited with her earring, Baker went on to win a silver medal.
For many athletes, accessories offer valuable room for self-expression, especially when they must compete wearing national kit designed to promote unity with their team-mates and their fans, so enormous care is taken over their choices. “I love wearing jewellery but when it comes to racing, I’m picky about it,” says Team GB’s Olympic 800m champion Keely Hodgkinson, whose personal talismans help her channel a winning mindset. “I now associate my Omega watch with getting ready for meets and I would feel lost without it on my wrist. I take my rings off when I compete — that’s a superstition of mine — but I always wear necklaces and earrings. In Paris, I wore a personalised necklace that one of my best friends gave me after the Tokyo Olympics. It has my previous British record of 1.55.88 on it, and I wore it to motivate me to go one better. I also wore some small diamond earrings that were a gift for my 22nd birthday. They are from where we train in South Africa, where a lot of the hard work gets done.”
Keely Hodgkinson wore diamond earrings and a necklace personalised with her British record time in Paris
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Other pieces are chosen as good luck charms or sentimental tributes to an athlete’s family and heritage. The Chinese discus thrower Feng Bin scooped a silver medal in Paris while wearing a pair of red and gold earrings shaped like stylised clouds. In China, the word “cloud” is a homophone for “good fortune” and the colours red and gold are considered auspicious. Meanwhile, the German basketball player Nyara Sabally took to social media just before the start of the Games to showcase a set of bespoke 14-carat grills (dental jewellery) shaped like the Olympic rings (crafted for her by Fine Ass Fronts, in New York).
Twanisha Terry struck gold in the 4x100m relay while wearing waist beads
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The vibrant waist beads worn by the sprinter Twanisha Terry (made for her by the Alabama-based D’Luxe Waistbeads) are a traditional west African emblem of feminine strength and wellbeing, something visible to all as she helped power the US women’s 4x100m relay team to victory and their 12th gold medal in the event.
The greatest jewellery moment of Paris 2024 came courtesy of the world’s most decorated gymnast, Simone Biles. While accepting her second gold medal of the Games, she revealed a white-gold necklace with a diamond-set goat pendant. “It’s a little ode,” she said. “A lot of people love it. They always call me the Goat [greatest of all time], so I thought it would be really special if I got one made.” The necklace is one of a pair she commissioned from the Californian jeweller Janet Heller.