The Summer Olympics are nothing if not an amalgam of highs and lows for the world’s best athletes . They weather wins and wipeouts, pride and pain, shattered records and shattered bones. As Team USA Olympians and Paralympians take the stage in Paris in the coming weeks, medical staff will be there to support every feat and fall—in style.
For the first time, the more than 250 health care professionals who form the Team USA Medical Team have a uniform. Figs , a direct-to-consumer medical apparel brand—and the first company led by two female cofounders to go public —partnered with the U.S.
Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) to break another barrier. “This is the first time ever that a medical team has been outfitted for any country for the Olympic Games,” Figs cofounder and CEO Trina Spear tells Fortune . “It’s very much about something that speaks to our overall mission and values as a company from day one: putting health care professionals in the spotlight that they deserve.
Usually they’re behind the scenes, but not anymore. This is really about showcasing the people who are serving all of us, serving humanity, and in this case, serving athletes.” When Spear and Figs cofounder Heather Hasson broached the idea with the USOPC, they were surprised to learn that not only did the Team USA medical staff lack a single outfitter, they also were responsible for their own dress at the Games.
The committee, Spear says, was just as eager to find a way to lift up.
