Featured Image Credit: Tom Weller / VOIGT / Getty Images / Aytac Unal/Anadolu via Getty Images
Topics: Olympics, Simone Biles, Sport, US News, Money
Tom Earnshaw
Topics: Olympics, Simone Biles, Sport, US News, Money
The 2024 Paris Olympics will see the return of legendary USA gymnast Simone Biles.
And for her third summer Games, the 27-year-old and her teammates are set to don the most expensive Olympic uniforms of all time.
Biles burst on to the Olympic scene in the 2016 Rio Games, winning a staggering four gold medals.
In the 2020 Tokyo Games, Biles managed to win a silver and bronze medal despite withdrawing from the majority of competition after getting the 'twisties'.
This is where you temporarily lose your sense of awareness when travelling through the air doing twists; with the outcome incredibly serious if you land incorrectly.
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Biles is back for Paris, with the opening ceremony taking place on Friday night (26 July) before two and a half weeks of intense competition across 32 sports.
And for their time in the French capital, a city that goes hand-in-hand with fashion, the American gymnasts competing in the US women's team will be wearing the most bling uniforms an Olympic Games has ever seen.
A staggering 47000,000 Swarovski crystals will be scattered across athletes set of eight leotards.
To put it in real-life terms, it means each leotard would cost you roughly $3,000 (£2,300) to buy, meaning each athlete has a cool $24,000 (£18,600) of kit just when it comes to the competition clothing alone.
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Annie Heffernon, vice president of the women’s program at USA Gymnastics, told the Washington Post: "I think about how special the moments are, especially the Olympic Games, with it only being once every four years, and how they’re going to feel.
"Regardless of their performance, I want them to feel amazing and beautiful when they go out and represent the USA in a leotard that they can be proud of."
GK Elite is the company that designed and made the leotards for Biles and her teammates.
The team were filmed while they were presented with their uniforms and they couldn't contain their excitement at what had been created by the GK Elite team, which is based in Pennsylvania.
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Reacting on TikTok, Biles said: "This is beautiful. You guys killed these leos!"
Despite only being 27 years old, Biles is now the eldest member of the USA women's gymnastics team.
And as a result of her success from such a young age, the Ohio native only has to win one more medal to become the most decorated American gymnast in the history of the Olympic Games.
The US gymnasts will take to the floor for the first time on Sunday (28 July).