On the 2024 Paris Olympic track, the women’s 100-meter stars delivered more than just their medal-winning sprints. The certified “track baddies” stopped by the hair and nail salon on the way to gold, serving beauty moments for spectators to drool over. From Britain’s Daryll Neita in a middle part to jeweled stiletto nails on US silver medalist Sha’Carri Richardson, they played no games with their face cards as beauty ran in first place.
Below, ESSENCE breaks down the medal-winning beauty inspiration from this year’s purple track.
Saint Lucia’s Julien Alfred
Saint Lucia’s Julien Alfred won gold in the women’s 100-meter race, bringing home her country’s first Olympic medal in history. To celebrate, she snatched off her nameplate to pose for a photo op with pink oval-tipped nails as her winning look. Brown lip gloss (think: Eadem’s Le Chouchou Lip Balm in “Boba Bouce”) embodied Black “French girl” beauty, while her island girl slicked back bun didn’t move during her record-breaking 10.72-second win.
U.S.A.’s Sha’Carri Richardson
All eyes were on team U.S.A.’s Sha’Carri Richardson––known for her Flo-Jo inspired nail moments––who won silver on the women’s 100-meter track. First, she arrived at the Games in a red, white and blue set (similar to athletes like Jordan Chiles and Noah Lyles) for the opening ceremony. Next, she switched to a bedazzled stiletto set with a black bottom and a coffin-shaped American flag-colored accent nail for round one.
Then, for the women’s 100-meter final, she updated her set once again with a purple stiletto adorned with multi-colored jewels. The perimeter of the press-ons were outlined in black, which referenced the shape of the winged liner she wore on her eyes. Instead of racing in a wig (cue: her wig toss at last year’s U.S. Track and Field Championships), she pulled her extensions back into a slick ponytail, which marked her Olympic debut.
Britain’s Daryll Neita
Winning fourth place in the women’s 100-meter, Britain’s Daryll Neita competed for first in the beauty Olympics. Her bombshell middle part reached her lower back, which she tied back into a French braid-esque double ponytail. For today’s women’s 200-meter semifinals, Neita scored second place (just .12 seconds behind US’s Brittany Brown) redeeming her bid for gold as she switched her oval no-mani mani with short white nails just before the finals.
U.S.A.’s Twanisha Terry
The US’s Twanisha “TeeTee” Terry is the talk of the town as fans anticipate her 4×100 relay after landing in fifth place for the 100-meter. Nevertheless, with the rise of island girl “Bora Bora” and “French curl” braids, Terry’s classic pigtail-tied box braids earned a gold medal. Pulled back with a red Nike headband, her vacation braids reigned supreme at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Jamaica’s Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce
Although Jamaica’s veteran track star Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce withdrew from the women’s 100 race––due to a last-minute rule change (among other issues athletes have faced at the Paris Olympics)––her first round beauty moment will not be forgotten. Not only did her lime green and yellow nails match the stripes in her Jamaican flag uniform, as did her wig.
Green and yellow streaks passed through her pressed lace front, turning her hair into a symbol of pride for her home country. Her edges were laid underneath a black headband as she ran a 10.92 in round one. Regardless of the unfair circumstances which led to her withdrawal, the eight-time Olympic medalist’s devoted hair and nail look did not go unnoticed.
