Thuc Nhi Nguyen | Los Angeles Times (TNS) The day after hearing their names called as members of the 2024 U.S. gymnastics team in front of a sold-out crowd in Minneapolis’ Target Center, Simone Biles, Suni Lee, Jordan Chiles, Jade Carey and Hezly Rivera assembled on an NBC stage in front of an exclusive audience.
Each gymnast received a red box labeled with a gold plate that read “made exclusively for” with their name. On three, each gymnast opened their box. A sparkling, star-spangled leotard glittered inside.
“They were in awe,” said Jeanne Diaz, the design mastermind behind the U.S. Olympic leotards.
While trying to recapture team gold in Paris, the Americans will wear an eight-piece leotard collection that aims to take the Olympic leotard to new heights of both fashion and function. Don’t let the crystals — up to 10,000 on one — be a distraction. These bedazzled bodysuits are just as tough as the athletes who wear them.
“We are charged to create this beautiful intersection of fashion and sport and the Team USA leotard represents that at its pinnacle,” GK Elite CEO Matt Cowan said. “But ultimately they’re there to perform. They’re there to win gold medals.
” Diaz’s Olympic process starts two years before the Games. The GK Elite gymnastics design director started planning in August 2022, compiling a mood board for a theme that could unify the collection. The Olympic host city provided a perfect muse.
Paris — one of the fashion capitals of the .
