Even those of you who don't care about gold medals and world records can't have failed to notice that the Olympic games are around the corner. Oh yawn, not more boring old athletes in shiny tracksuits ... well, not any more. Sport is as much about fashion as it is about sport. In recent months, Vogue in the US and GQ in Britain have both run shoots of Olympic athletes, while medal hopeful Paula Radcliffe was photographed in Alberta Ferretti for this month's issue of Vogue in Britain. These days, you're just as likely to see David Beckham's name in the style
section as on the back page, or Freddie Ljungberg in his Calvin Klein pants as running around a pitch. Maria Sharapova may have won Wimbledon, but she also picked up a modeling contract along the way.
But when did sports stars become so fashionable? Glenn Hoddle and Chris Waddle -- great names, even better mullets. But style icons? Not likely. Seb Coe, Martina Navratilova, and Tessa Sanderson -- fantastic athletes but not really troubling Kate Moss in the style stakes. This sport/fashion love affair has all kicked off in the past 10 years.
It started after designers cottoned on to the fact that sports stars have lots of fans who will pay to look like them. More to the point, it's a relationship that makes sense. All those athletic bodies honed to perfection, all those big egos competing to be the best; the pitches and athletic tracks of the world are just like catwalks but with a lot more Lycra.
Of course, there have always been Olympic athletes who have hit the headlines with their kerr-azy dress sense. Flo Jo, with her one-legged running suits and long, painted nails springs immediately to mind -- although quite how
one-legged running suits could be deemed stylish is another question entirely. But it's looking like these Games really could be a fashion corker. Sophia Kokasalaki is making the costumes for the opening night, style maverick Bjork is performing and the Williams sisters -- the J-Los of the tennis world -- will be ruling Athens in their designer gowns. So with only seven days to go, who will be the Olympic style icons of 2004? Ladies and gentlemen, here are
the contenders.
Ian Thorpe, Australian swimmer, also known as the Thorpedo, is something of a budding fashionista. Not only does the hunk in trunks do a nice line in championship swimming (three gold medals at the last Olympics), he does an even nicer line in underwear, shifting boxers with names such as "ripple" and "resurge" by the vanload. Hanging out with glamorous models such as Elle MacPherson and Sarah O'Hare, being photographed by Herb Ritts and acting as an ambassador
for Armani are all part of the Thorpedo's dry-land activities. He also designs a range of jewelry for Aurore pearls. Whether he'll be modeling his designs while simultaneously going for gold has yet to be confirmed.
Carmelo Anthony, US basketball player, brings a hip hop swagger to the Olympic proceedings. Anthony has already won awards for his sense of style -- Esquire in the US recently name-checked him in their "best dressed" list for 2004. A big fan of the wide-lapeled suit and baseball cap combo, "Melo" with his long, braided hair not only looks strangely like LL Cool J but has done photoshoots with Jay Z.
We are eagerly waiting to see if Melo, who is friends with bling-bling rapper Nelly, follows his friend's lead and brings Band Aid chic to Greece.
Svetlana Khorkina, Russian gymnast, is hardly a shy and retiring type -- she's the diva of the gymnastics world. At 165cm, the temperamental medal winner is tall for her sport and treats the gymnasium like a catwalk, strutting around like Naomi Campbell in a strop. Having posed topless for Russian Playboy and rumored
to be pursuing an acting career, Khorkina once proclaimed that, "I want to be recognized ... from half a mile away." More glamor model than style queen, she's the lad-mag choice. Like her compatriot Kournikova, except that she
actually wins things.
Landon Donovan, US footballer, may bear more than a slight resemblance to both Beavis and Butthead, but he could be one to watch. The most famous footballer in the US is developing a liking for glossy magazine photoshoots and has modeled in US-style bibles W and Vanity Fair. A clean-cut kind of guy who favors Calvin Klein underwear, he appeals to the Abercrombie & Fitch all-American crew. However, he is a footballer, so we all know when it comes to fashion anything could happen.
Daniela Rath, German high jumper, is a fan of Marni and Dolce & Gabbana. She is another quiet contender for most stylish athlete. At 175cm, Rath is a perfect clotheshorse and off-duty favors chiffon dresses or the 1990s London-girl uniform -- despite being German -- of fitted tops and baggy combat pants. "The only thing I don't feel comfortable in is a suit," she says.
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