Winning looks: When style met sport at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games
Paris 2024 was the stage for powerful pairings – marriage proposals, the bonds between Paralympians and their guides, the Woodhalls' double victory, and more. But one of the most exciting matches was the fusion of fashion and sport.
Paris Fashion Week is officially kicking off in the French capital today, 23 September, but sports fans got a much earlier glimpse at the trendiest styles du jour courtesy of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
With the Games taking centre stage from July to September, it felt like Paris Fashion Week was a two-month affair this season with some bold looks and messages mixed in. At the Paralympics, in particular, the fusion of style and sport allowed athletes to express their individuality while also raising awareness about important issues like invisible disabilities and inclusivity.
Read on to find out how fashion and sport came together at the Paralympic Games, and the deeper messages behind some of the striking looks.
Always a good hair and makeup day on the track
The purple track at Stade de France came alive with an array of colourful hairstyles during the Para athletics competition of Paris 2024. Team USA's Nick Mayhugh sported one of the most memorable looks as he used the spotlight to communicate a powerful message.
The sprinter-turned-long jumper was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at age 14 after an MRI scan revealed a hole in his brain. At Paris 2024, Mayhugh dyed the scan onto his head, complete with the ‘dead spot’ which affects the left side of his body.
"I wanted to get people talking about it and to understand that there are invisible disabilities," Mayhugh told Olympics.com. "People like me do exist and do compete in the Paralympics, and (although) I look normal, I still have a disability."
Nick Mayhugh's memorable hair design at Paris 2024 sent a message about invisible disabilities.
Other athletes change their hairstyles to boost their confidence. German sprinter Irmgard Bensusan, who sported various up-dos during competition, described how she feels like she is “going on a date with the track” when she is racing. She also finds that braiding hair helps her to relax.
“I sometimes do the girls’ hair on my team," the 200m T64 bronze medallist said. "They all make appointments with me and it's really meditative because then we talk about things and they tell me if they’re stressing about the competition, so we just have one-to-one talks."
Multi-talented Catarina Guimaraes uses hair and makeup to make a statement. Just like Bensusan, the USA athlete enjoys getting ready with teammates.
“I like feeling girly, and track and field can be a very masculine-centric, dominated field. So I had my friend, my teammate Brittni Mason, cook up some Pinterest images and then she found a little butterfly, and I was like, ‘I am so doing that',” Guimaraes said of the elaborate glitter design around her eyes during the women's 400m T38 event.
“Our personalities are always changing and evolving, so as I grow in the sport, I'm sure you'll see my makeup looks grow, change and evolve."
Catarina Guimaraes was inspired by butterflies when designing her makeup look at Paris 2024.
We caught up with Brittni Mason after she clinched silver in the women’s 200m T47 final. The USA sprinter proudly showed off her silver necklace with the Paralympic Agitos symbol, which she had custom made after winning three medals at Tokyo 2020.
“I love bling, I love jewellery," Mason said. "I wanted something that I could wear all the time that really represented and brought awareness to the Paralympic Movement and what I am all about."
“If you look good, you run good,” Brittni Mason to Olympics.com
Brazilian sprinter Vinícius Gonçalves Rodrigues shows his personality by switching up his hairstyle and colour – into magenta pink at Paris 2024 – when he competes.
“I like to run with my style, with blades and shoes and hair, because normally the track in Brazil is black,” he said.
Eyewear is another way that Rodrigues makes a statement. Donning different frames for his two races in Paris, the Brazilian opted to run the men's 100m T63 heats in "over the top" Oakleys, bringing back memories of Ato Boldon's similar fashion moment at Sydney 2000.
Gold is a state of mind – and a hair colour
Some athletes wake up with an inkling that the day ahead will be golden. Brazil’s Jerusa Geber dos Santos was one of them. She dressed up for the occasion and her golden finish in the women's 200m T11 at Paris 2024 proved that her instincts – athletic and style-wise – were on point.
“I don't usually dress up a lot, but today was a special day,” Geber dos Santos, who earlier also won gold in the 100m T11, told Olympics.com. “I asked my hairstylist to put on a lot of glitter because it was like a farewell, my last race, and I wanted to look pretty for it."
Great minds think alike. Enderson German Santos Gonzalez of Venezuela matched his hair with his guide Eubrig Jose Maza Caraballo, so they could manifest their way to the top of the podium.
At first, Gonzalez wanted to go for the national colours – yellow, blue or red – but Caraballo had a better idea.
“Let’s go for gold,” he said.
It worked. The duo picked up the hardware to match their golden hair in the men’s 400m T11.
Enderson German Santos Gonzalez (R) and his guide Eubrig Jose Maza Caraballo sported hair to match the colour of their gold medals in the men's 400m T11.
Martina Caironi also manifested her sports goal via statement hair colour. “Feeling powerful" when she woke up on the morning of the women's 100m T63, the Italian came out to the track with hair that matched the purple Stade de France.
It made for a colourful podium look when she collected a gold medal in what was her final Paralympic race.
Martina Caironi's rainbow-and-unicorn prosthetic design sent a message of support for the LGBTQ+ community.
Prosthetics as canvas: The power of adaptive style
Caironi, who lost her left leg above the knee after a road accident in 2007, used her Paris 2024 prosthetics to tell a story of diversity and her creative personality.
With the help of a tattoo artist, she came up with two different prosthetic designs for her long jump events. One was decorated with a rainbow and unicorn, to show support for the LGBTQ+ community. The second design was a playful pairing of French and Italian culture, featuring the Eiffel Tower wrapped in spaghetti.
“For us, prosthetic legs are a way to express ourselves," Caironi told Olympics.com. "I don't mind wearing short shorts and dresses. In fact, I wear many stickers on my day-to-day prosthetic leg. Our body is just the reflection of our mould, our way of being."
What goes well with a medal? A statement manicure
How do you let your personality shine through when you're wearing your team kit? Through your nails. And the Paralympic Village was the ultimate place to get them done.
Nail technicians Julia Choukroun and Leïla Rerbal provided numerous intricate manicures to Paralympians during Paris 2024. The time spent in the Village salon was also a unique opportunity for them to connect with athletes and hear their stories.
“For them, it was about attracting good luck and being proud of their hands," Choukroun told Olympics.com. "The fact that they had these little details reminding them of their country, or just drawings, gave them a lot of confidence to go out there and be 100 per cent focussed on their event."
One of Rerbal’s clients was Zakia Khudadadi, the first refugee athlete to win a medal at a Paralympic Games. Khudadadi asked to paint all her nails red except her ring finger which bore the flag of Afghanistan.
“She wanted to remember her country, as all of her friends are still there,” Rerbal said.
One Australian Para swimmer with a vision impairment also asked Rerbal to paint her country's flag on her nails. The athlete was able to see her nails up close, and when she made out the flag, she cried with happiness. Needless to say, Rerbal did too.
Fellow Australian, wheelchair sprinter Rheed McCracken, got his nails painted black. In his daily life, the six-time Paralympic medallist likes to dress in monochrome and since his Australian kit was green and yellow, he wanted to express himself through his black fingernails, he shared with Choukroun.
Rheed McCracken, bronze medallist in the men's 800m T34, made his personality stand out thanks to an all-black manicure done at the Paralympic Village.
Despite wearing full team kits while competing at Paris 2024, many athletes managed to bring their personalities into the spotlight thanks to some creative style choices.
As we look forward to Los Angeles 2028, we can't wait to see how athletes continue to push boundaries and redefine what it means to compete in style. Fashion and sport are a powerful match, and the stories behind the different looks in the French capital are a reminder that every athlete brings something unique to the field of play.
