An Australian Olympian who won gold at the Tokyo Olympics has spoken of the long journey he took to remove the “awful” tattoo he got to commemorate his swimming success.
Swimmer Brianna Throssell urged her 31,000 TikTok fans to think twice about their tattoo parlor choices after getting her Olympic rings inked after the 2016 Rio Olympics, where she competed. did.
In a TikTok video, the 28-year-old revealed to fans that she is starting a long journey to have the ink removed after getting the tattoo after returning from Rio.
“I loved (the tattoo) at the time and thought it was super, super cool. But over time, the black ink ran into the ring and the yellow started to fade,” the world record setter said Friday. Ta.
Throssell said he had the tattoo touched up, but decided to cover the ring black after returning from the Tokyo Olympics, but it was still bleeding.
Holding up a tattoo with five faded black rings, Throssell said: “It's really bad… I'm starting the process to have it removed because I can't tell you how bad this tattoo is.”
The swimmer took her fan to her first session to have her once cherished ink removed with a laser, which she said was “painful but totally bearable”.
As a result, the Olympic rings were colored again, but Throssell said it would take eight sessions to completely remove them and start over.
Her parting message to fans: “If this is your message to anyone, please learn to do your research before choosing a tattoo artist. Don't make the mistake I did.”
Throssell represented Australia at the 2016 Rio Games and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which were held in 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
At the Tokyo Games, she won a gold medal in the women's 4x100m medley relay and a bronze medal in the mixed 4x100m medley relay by swimming the butterfly leg in both heats.
