Crossing the finish line in one minute 56.72 seconds, all eyes were on British rising star and ELLE UK cover star Keely Hodgkinson last night. The 22-year-old runner had done it – she’d just won her first gold medal at the 800m Olympics final in Paris. A quick air punch, a sigh of relief, before she covered her face with her hands allowing the moment to fully sink in.
As she did so, the runner revealed a colourful set of lavender nails, joining a slew of athletes who have been experimenting with vibrant nail art throughout the Olympic Games. But it wasn’t the playful hue that caught the attention of the internet; rather the hidden message behind the motifs.
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‘These nails were in collaboration with Nike and Keely; they feature motifs based around the Greek goddess of victory,’ nail artist Sylvie Macmillan, who is known to her followers as @sylviemacmillan.nails, tells ELLE UK. ‘Keely really is a goddess of victory herself, the dedication she has is beyond impressive. Some of the nail designs included wreaths and wings representing a win and the ability to fly, which we all saw Keely do during the race,’ she adds.
‘Design wise, I took inspiration from Cameo jewellery and Wedgwood ceramics. The colour was based on a lavender Cameo reference that Keely and the Nike team loved. Purple is a regal colour, it’s also very calming so it seemed fitting,’ she shares.
When it came to creation, the nail art was a labour of love. ‘These 3-D nails are a practice in patience as they take a long time to do. I used a very fine brush to paint layers of translucent cream builder gel, curing each layer until I had the desired opacity and texture,’ says Macmillan.
Appearing in myriad forms, this kind of self-expression through beauty has been omnipresent throughout the Olympics, be it the joyful make-up touches, hair bows or patriotic beauty touches. As far as nails have been concerned, we’ve been spoiled for choice: gymnast Julia Chiles’ bright blue and gold acrylics; Rugby Sevens pro Alex Sedrick’s number ‘8’ nails; Australian swimmer Ariarne Titmus who matched her neon yellow nails to her swim cap and US tennis player Coco Gauff’s red French tips.
It’s not the first time that beauty has played an important role for athletes in the midst of a fierce sporting competition. As Macmillan recalls, Florence Griffith Joyner – the fastest woman in 100m who broke records back in the 1980s – never failed to embellish her fingertips with beautiful nail art. ‘Athletes essentially have a uniform to wear that represents their team, so beauty is an opportunity for them to champion self-expression,’ says Macmillan.
Whether it’s a personal and powerful message or a way of telling the world who you are, athletes are proving the power of nail art beyond the aesthetic, on and off the track.
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Amelia Bell is the Senior Site Beauty Editor at ELLE UK, developing beauty strategy, writing, editing, and commissioning, and overseeing all beauty content for the site. Amelia has a particular interest in sustainable beauty practices, exploring the skin-mind connection, and decoding the latest treatments, tweakments and runway trends. She also has bylines for Women’s Health, Refinery29, British Vogue, Harrods Magazine, and more.
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