Sports

6 hidden details in Simone Biles' and Suni Lee's Olympic leotards at the women's gymnastics all-around final

By Talia Lakritz
Simone Biles and Suni Lee at the women's all-around final at the Paris Olympics.
Simone Biles and Suni Lee at the 2024 Paris Olympics. LOIC VENANCE/AFP via Getty Images
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Simone Biles and Suni Lee, both past Olympic gold medalists in women's all-around gymnastics, competed for the title once again at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Biles took home the gold, winning her ninth Olympic medal and cementing her status as the most decorated US gymnast of all time. Lee won the bronze medal.

Biles and Lee wore custom leotards designed by GK Elite, a sportswear company and official partner of USA Gymnastics. Here are six hidden details you might have missed in the designs.

Simone Biles' leotard design, called "Luminous Legacy," gleamed with over 10,000 crystals.

Simone Biles performs on the uneven bars at the 2024 Olympics.
Biles on the uneven bars at the Paris Olympics. Morry Gash/AP

The leotard included two shades of Swarovski crystals, light siam shimmer and majestic blue, which are exclusive to the 2024 Olympics, GK Elite said.

The lines on the bodice were designed to look like a corset in a nod to French fashion.

Simone Biles at the 2024 Olympics.
Biles. Naomi Baker/Getty Images

Jeanne Diaz, GK Elite's lead designer, told Business Insider that the design team also took inspiration from "superhero Wonder Woman armor" while creating this look.

Sublimated stars and crystal lines on the sleeves offered an abstract take on the stars and stripes of the American flag.

Simone Biles at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Biles. Charlie Riedel/AP

Sublimation is a specialized print technique used to apply graphics to fabric using heat and pressure. It was first used in leotards at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

"That technique allows us to get really intricate details, really fine lines, without having to use any other more expensive or more stretch-restrictive surface techniques," Diaz said.

Suni Lee's leotard, called "Elegance," featured a lace-inspired crystal pattern, referencing "the softer side of Parisian fashion," Diaz said.

Suni Lee after her uneven bar routine at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Suni Lee after her uneven-bar routine at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Jamie Squire/Getty Images

The lace design is meant to evoke haute couture and the decorative, flowing lines of the Art Nouveau movement popularized in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Diaz said.

She added that the pattern on Lee's mesh sleeves was printed on the fabric using sublimation.

A lace-up design on the back was another tribute to Parisian corsets.

Suni Lee competes on balance beam at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Lee on the balance beam at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

The faux corset was encrusted with crystals.

Her leotard was covered in over 5,000 crystals.

Suni Lee at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Lee after her balance-beam routine. Mike Egerton/PA Images via Getty Images

The front of the leotard featured flame- and diamond-shaped crystals.

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Talia Lakritz
Talia Lakritz
Talia Lakritz is a Life correspondent at Business Insider covering politics and power through a visual storytelling lens. She has reported from the White House as well as military installations, mansions, and museums across the country, bringing readers inside fascinating places through immersive features.Previously, she wrote for The New York Jewish Week and SciShow Space.Talia holds a BA in English with a concentration in Creative Writing from Barnard College of Columbia University and ordination as an interfaith minister from One Spirit Learning Alliance. She hopes to one day visit all 50 states and all 14 public presidential libraries.Politics and power:Visual features:Human interest:
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