Olympic Museum unveils Paris 2024 gymnastics donations

© IOC

The museum and the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) collaborated on the donations during the Olympic Games Paris 2024 to support athletes who wanted to make their mark on Olympic history.

“The Olympic Museum’s heritage project is a fantastic opportunity to share the athletes’ inspiring stories and to keep the memories of their extraordinary performances alive after an exceptional Games,” said Aljaž Pegan, the President of the FIG Athletes’ Commission.

“We are truly grateful to Rebeca, Kaylia and Darja for their donations,” he added, underlining the generous gesture of the three champions. “Thank you also to the Olympic Museum for shining a light on gymnastics at Paris 2024 with the exhibition of these precious artefacts.”

“Gymnastics artefacts are difficult for us to acquire, as they are often specially designed and highly personal,” said Yasmin Meichtry, Associate Director of the Olympic Museum. “We are grateful that these leotards will enable us to tell the stories of not only the three Olympians who generously donated them, but that they will also represent the many athletes, families and coaches involved with gymnastics across the world.”

Artistic gymnast Rebeca Andrade, the most decorated Brazilian Olympian in history and Paris 2024 Olympic champion on floor exercise, donated the leotard she wore during her silver medal-winning all-around performance. The striking yellow suit was specially designed by her teammate, Jade Barbosa, and features a crystalline three-letter abbreviation for Brazil.

“It is an honour for me,” said Andrade of her donation to the museum. “We have fought hard to earn the space we have today, and to reach where we are now. I truly feel privileged to be doing this, and to continue putting the name of gymnastics, of my team and of my own, out for the world to see.”

© FIG and IOC

At Paris 2024, Kaylia Nemour became the first gymnast representing an African nation to win an Olympic medal. The 17-year-old artistic gymnast took the top spot on uneven bars, the first gold medal for an Algerian athlete since London 2012. She selected a bright green leotard to represent her history-making moment.

"I'm very, very happy and honoured to give my leotard to the Olympic Museum,” said Nemour when making the donation in Paris. “Honestly, it's incredible.”

© FIG and IOC

Germany’s Darja Varfolomeev delivered powerful performances at Paris’s Porte de La Chapelle Arena, winning her the individual all-around gold in rhythmic gymnastics. She performed her ribbon routine in a full-body ballet-style purple unitard specially designed for her, studded with Swarovski crystals.

While long-legged outfits have been worn by rhythmic gymnasts at past editions of the Games, the German women’s artistic gymnastics team had made a conscious choice for full-body suits during Tokyo 2020 as a statement against sexism.

Varfolomeev selected her sparkling unitard for inclusion in the Olympic Museum’s collections to inspire young athletes in rhythmic gymnastics.

‘It is a great honour for me to donate my Leotard to the Olympic Museum. To be pictured there with such great athletes as Jesse Owens, Simone Biles or Usain Bolt is very exciting and something very special for me.’

© Getty Images and IOC

These donations join some 146 gymnastics artefacts in the museum’s collections and on display in its permanent exhibition, such as the leotards of Uzbekistan’s Oksana Chusovitina (Tokyo 2020), the USA’s Simon Biles (Rio 2016) and Kerri Strug (Atlanta 1996) and Romanian Nadia Comaneci (Montreal 1976).

Next year, Lausanne will welcome the 77^th Federal Gymnastics Festival, the largest annual sporting event in Switzerland, between 12 and 22 June 2025. To mark the occasion, the museum plans to feature a number of gymnastics artefacts in a new exhibition.