Paralympics committee offers clarification after reports athletes could be banned over little-known rule

There may be some Paralympic athletes breathing a sigh of relief after the organisers clarified some things about the rules.

You might have heard recently that any athletes with visible tattoos of the Olympic rings could land themselves in trouble at the Paralympic Games, which are due to start next Wednesday (28 August).

That's because in the past it's come back to bite them, since the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) has some rules against 'body advertising'.

As it turns out, having the Olympic rings tattooed on your body counts as body advertising and some athletes have in the past been banned from events at certain competitions and needed to cover up at the Paralympics to avoid getting into trouble.

British swimmer Josef Craig had to cover up his rings with a Union Jack for the 2016 Paralympics after being banned from the final of the IPC European Championships because of his exposed rings.

In the past Paralympic athletes have had to cover up their tattoos, including with the generous application of marker pen. (Sam Barnes/Sportsfile via Getty Images)

American athlete Rudy Garcia-Tolson was allowed to keep his silver medal from the 2012 Paralympic Games after he used a marker pen to cover his tattoos but it had washed off in the pool.

For Rio 2016 he had to tape over the tattoos, saying: "I don’t really agree with it, but it’s the rules, so we’re just going to have to go with it.

"I’m going to follow the rules. I don’t want to put all this hard work in and then get disqualified for something I have on my body."

That had led to some concerns that athletes with uncovered Olympic ring tattoos could be in trouble for Paris 2024, but fortunately officials have spoken out to allay fears.

An IPC spokesperson told LADbible that banning athletes for Olympic ring tattoos was now 'old policy', and that rules around advertising tattoos had been altered after the last Paralympics.

Preparations are underway for the Paralympic Games, which will begin on 28 August. (Mohamad Salaheldin Abdelg Alsayed/Anadolu via Getty Images)

They said: "We will not be banning athletes for Olympic rings tattoos at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games. This is an old policy.

"There are rules around third party branding tattoos. The policy changed after Tokyo 2020."

Sleep tight then, Paralympians who've got the rings tattooed somewhere on your bodies, you won't be in terrible trouble and miss out on something you've been preparing for all your life because of a little bit of inked skin.

Do be mindful that there are still rules in places about tattoos, so don't go crazy with this new information.

It's not long now until the games begin, they'll run from 28 August to 8 September.