Australian Olympian Brianna Thorsell shares botched tattoo drama after Rio Olympics

By Nathan Schmidt

news.com.au·

12 Oct, 2024 10:30 PM2 mins to read

Swimmer Brianna Throssell has shared why she’s getting her Olympic tattoo removed.

After taking home gold, a swimmer has shared why she’s getting her Olympic tattoo removed.

An Australian Olympian who took home gold at the Tokyo Games has shared her long journey to remove a “god awful” tattoo she got to commemorate her swimming success.

Swimmer Brianna Throssell urged her 31,000 TikTok fans to closely consider their choice in tattoo parlour after she got inked with the Olympic rings following the 2016 Rio Games, where she also competed.

In a TikTok video, the 28-year-old revealed to her fans how after getting the tattoo upon returning from Rio, she was now beginning the long journey to have her ink removed.

“I loved it [the tattoo] at the time, I thought it was super, super cool. But over time, the black ink ran in the ring and the yellow started to fade,” the world record-setter said on Friday.

Throssell said she got the tattoo touched up but after returning home from the Tokyo Games, decided to have the rings covered over in black – and yet, they still bled, she said.

In Brianna Thorsell's first tattoo removal session, the tattoo was returned to colour.

Holding up the tattoo with five faded black rings, Throssel said: “It’s god awful... It’s wild how awful this tattoo is, so I am starting the process of getting it removed.”

The swimmer proceeded to take her fans with her to her first session to have her once-prized ink removed by laser, which she said was “painful, but totally bearable”.

The end result was a set of Olympic rings that were once again in colour, though Throssell said it would take eight sessions to remove it completely before having it redone.

Her parting message to fans: “If this is a message to anyone, learn to do your research before choosing your tattoo artist. Don’t make a mistake like me.”

Throssel represented Australia at Rio in 2016 and at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, held in 2021 because of Covid.

At Tokyo, she won a gold medal in the women’s 4x100m medley relay and claimed a bronze medal in the mixed 4x100m medley relay, after swimming the butterfly leg in the heats for both events.