• iconNews
  • videos
  • entertainment
  • Home
  • News
    • UK News
    • US News
    • Australia
    • Ireland
    • World News
    • Weird News
    • Viral News
    • Sport
    • Technology
    • Science
    • True Crime
    • Travel
  • Entertainment
    • Celebrity
    • TV & Film
    • Netflix
    • Music
    • Gaming
    • TikTok
  • LAD Originals
    • Say Maaate to a Mate
    • Daily Ladness
    • Lad Files
    • UOKM8?
    • FreeToBe
    • Extinct
    • Citizen Reef
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • UNILAD
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube

LAD Entertainment

YouTube

LAD Stories

Submit Your Content
Major change made ahead of Paralympics that will impact all athletes with Olympic rings tattoo

Home> News> Sport

Published 16:05 28 Aug 2024 GMT+1

Major change made ahead of Paralympics that will impact all athletes with Olympic rings tattoo

There have been some very stringent rules around the Olympic rings logo at the Paralympic Games

Tom Earnshaw

Tom Earnshaw

A major rule change is coming to the 2024 Paralympic Games after organisers confirmed they would not be enforcing one particular regulation for the Paris Games.

The 2024 Summer Paralympics starts tonight with the opening ceremony taking place at the Place de la Concorde in the centre of Paris.

The theming of the ceremony is set to be the human body as well as 'history and its paradoxes', with millions set to tune in around the world for the start of the 12-day sporting festival.

Organised by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), it'll be the first time the Summer Games have been hosted in France, with the Winter Paralympics taking place in the country back in 1992.

With around 4,400 athletes competing across 22 sports, there are rules and regulations in place that they'll have to adhere to if they want a chance of winning gold.

Advert

But one rule that's off the table concerns tattoos, specifically those with Olympic rings.

Athletes who have visible tattoos of the Olympic rings were set to land themselves in trouble during the 2024 Paralympics, with the IPC having particular rules against 'body advertising'.

Paris is hosting the Paralympics for the first time in the city's history (Alex Slitz/Getty Images)
Paris is hosting the Paralympics for the first time in the city's history (Alex Slitz/Getty Images)

And if you haven't guessed already, the rings fall under that category and have done for many years. Athletes had faced penalties or even disqualification for going against the IPC regulations.

This was because despite the similarity between the Olympics and Paralympics, both are run completely separate under different organisations, with the IPC having nothing to do with the International Olympic Committee.

Advert

In 2016, the IPC said the tattoos 'confuses the public and impacts the understanding about the Paralympic brand'.

But this week the IPC has suddenly dropped the rule in regards to the Olympic rings tattoo. No explanation as to why has been given; not that that will matter to any athlete with the tat.

"Athletes with such tattoos do not need to cover them up,” Craig Spence, the chief brand and communications officer for the IPC, said in an email.

Back in the 2016 Paralympics, Team GB swimmer Josef Craig had to cover up his rings tattoo with a Union Jack after being banned from the final of the IPC European Championships.

Olympic rings no longer have to be covered up (JONATHAN NACKSTRAND/AFP via Getty Images)
Olympic rings no longer have to be covered up (JONATHAN NACKSTRAND/AFP via Getty Images)

Advert

And back in the 2012 Games, USA athlete Rudy Garcia-Tolson was permitted to keep his silver medal after the marker pen he used to cover his tattoo had washed off in the pool.

Speaking out on the rule in 2016, Garcia-Tolson said: "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."

Speaking to LADbible, the IPC confirmed the Olympic rings rule was 'old policy'. A spokesperson 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."

Featured Image Credit: JONATHAN NACKSTRAND / AFP via Getty Images / Graham Denholm / Getty Images

Topics: Paralympics, Olympics, Sport, World News, Viral

Tom Earnshaw
Tom Earnshaw

Tom joined LADbible Group in 2024, currently working as SEO Lead across all brands including LADbible, UNILAD, SPORTbible, Tyla, UNILAD Tech, and GAMINGbible. He moved to the company from Reach plc where he enjoyed spells as a content editor and senior reporter for one of the country's most-read local news brands, LancsLive. When he's not in work, Tom spends his adult life as a suffering Manchester United supporter after a childhood filled with trebles and Premier League titles. You can't have it all forever, I suppose.

X

@TREarnshaw

Advert

Advert

Advert

Choose your content:

an hour ago
2 hours ago
  • an hour ago

    Doctor reveals patient's brain turned blue after taking 'limitless pill' that's gone viral on TikTok

    People on social media have hailed the substance a ‘game changer for mental clarity and longevity’

    News
  • an hour ago

    Doctor shares the nine warning signs of heart failure and how to spot them

    Dr Jen Caudle has revealed the nine 'most common' symptoms of the condition

    News
  • 2 hours ago

    Director of shocking horror banned across world was murdered in unsolved crime just weeks before film's release

    The 17-year-old boy initially sentenced for the death of horror director Pier Paolo Pasolini retracted their confession in 2005

    News
  • 2 hours ago

    Final wish of British grandmother revealed after she has spent 12 years on death row with fresh ‘hope of being released’

    Lindsay Sandiford has spent more than a decade on death row in Bali

    News
  • Paralympian who had tattoo of Olympic rings spoke out after rule change meant he could be banned from Games
  • GB athlete had to cover up Olympic ring tattoo at Paralympics after being disqualified over it
  • Paralympics committee offers clarification after reports athletes could be banned over little-known rule
  • Paralympians with Olympic ring tattoo could be banned from upcoming Paris Games