You may remember the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials telephone booth, pictured below. Every time an athlete notched her spot on the Olympic team, she got to sign the booth, which represented the host city, London.
Ariana Kukors signs the U.S. Olympic Team telephone booth after making the Olympic team at the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials. Photo credit: Tim Binning
This year’s installation for the upcoming Games in sunny Rio de Janeiro is a bit more tropical. The 2016 Olympic team will have the chance to make their mark on USA Swimming’s giant flip flop, decorated with the colors of the Brazilian flag: blue, yellow, and green.
Last time around, the telephone booth bounced between the Aqua Zone, where fans could admire the names of the swimmers who had already made the team, and the pool deck, where swimmers would go to leave their mark after their top-placing swims.
You can watch the 2016 Olympic Trials starting tomorrow night on NBC. You can also live-stream the event on NBC Sports Live, and we will be bringing you up-to-the-minute coverage on both here on the site and on our social media platforms.
Is it called a “flip flop” or a “thing”?
“Thongs”
Watching the Diving trials taking place in Indianopolis reminded me how cool — incredibly awesome, actually — it was to see a professional sign letterer write the names of each newly minted US Olympic swimmer on the big wall there. And those names are still there many years later. Nothing quite like it.