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It’s a rite of passage many competitors jump at the chance to show off at the Olympics, but if an athlete was to do it at the Paralympics, they’d be disqualified immediately.
British swimmer Josef Craig can attest to this. The then-19-year-old, after all, in 2016 was disqualified from the men’s S8 100m final at the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Swimming European Championships despite his perfect heat-winning performance.
Craig’s disqualification, however, had nothing to do with his actual swimming – but it did have everything to do with his Olympic rings tattoo.
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Heading to the Championships in May – three months before Rio 2016 – Craig was one of the medal favourites, particularly after his London 2012 gold-winning world record time in the men’s 400m freestyle.
Josef Craig, pictured here in April 2016, was disqualified from a final at the IPC Swimming European Championships weeks later because of his Olympic rings tattoo. Ian MacNicol/Getty Images
Craig did medal – twice – at the meet, coming second in the men’s S8 400m freestyle and men’s 4x100m freestyle relay.
But because he failed to cover up his tattoo of the Olympic rings and Team Great Britain’s lion’s head on the left side of his chest in the S8 100m heat, he was disqualified after the race from the final.
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“Body advertising is not allowed in any way whatsoever and that includes the Olympic rings. The athlete did not wear a cover and was therefore disqualified,” an IPC spokesperson said in a statement at the time.
“All teams are informed of the advertising policy at a technical meeting prior to competition so it wasn’t as if they had not been reminded about the rules.”
Never had it ever been more clear that the IPC and the International Olympic Committee are separate organisations than it was in that moment.
Why don’t Olympians have to cover up their ring tattoos?
Quite simply, Olympians don’t have to cover up their Olympic rings tattoos because the rules – set by the IOC, which is a separate body to the IPC – are slightly different.
Tattoos, including those of the Olympic rings, are generally allowed to be on display at the Olympics, unless they advertise a product.
American former middle distance runner Nick Symmonds, for example, would have had to cover up his tattoos with blank tape or patches had he competed at Rio 2016 due to the fact that he sold space on his skin for advertising.
Weeks before Rio 2016, Symmonds sold almost 23cm on his arm for US$21,800 to T-Mobile in the United States, which is a rival to AT&T, which at the time was an official sponsor of both Team USA’s Olympic and Paralympic teams.
Kyle Chalmers, pictured here in 2016, is one of the many Australian athletes with an Olympic rings tattoo. Getty
Symmonds ended up not being able to compete at Rio 2016 due to injury, though he notably covered up his tattoos at London 2012.
“We take a common sense approach to tattoos whatever they are,” an IOC spokesperson said in 2016 amid the Craig saga.
Why do Paralympians with Olympic ring tattoos have to cover it up?
The IOC governs the Olympics, and the IPC, which governs the Paralympics, is a completely separate organisation to the IOC.
Due to that fact, not only do they have different rules for their athletes, but they also have different logos.
The current Paralympic logo consists of three agitos – crescents coloured red, blue and green, the most widely represented colours in national flags around the world – encircling one point on a white background.
Rudy Garcia-Tolson, pictured here in 2008, has the Olympic rings on his back left shoulder blade, which he had to cover up. Getty
The current Olympic logo, meanwhile, is five intertwined rings, coloured blue, yellow, black, green and red, symbolising the five inhabited continents of the world where all athletes come from.
Because the Olympic logo is a symbol of another organisation and event, when Paralympians have it tattooed on their body, it’s considered an advertisement under the IPC’s rules at IPC-governed events.
The tattoo-specific IPC rule first came into effect before London 2012, but because it was new at the time, it wasn’t fully enforced – American Paralympic swimmer, runner and triathlete Rudy Garcia-Tolson is a prime example of this.
He earned a silver in a 200m individual medley at London 2012, with an Olympic ring tattoo left visible on the back of his left shoulder blade.
By 2016, however, the IPC had been properly enforcing it.
“I fully feel like I’m an Olympian,” Garcia-Tolson said at an event days after Craig’s disqualification in 2016, per NBC Sport.
By a technicality – the fact that the IOC and IPC are two different organisations – he isn’t officially, but he’s not the only Paralympian who feels like an Olympian in spirit.
“I don’t really agree with it, but it’s the rules, so we’re just going to have to go with it,” he continued.
“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.”
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