When television cameras caught Michael Phelps with a serious game face before the semifinal swim, staring in the direction of South African Chad le Clos, the image went viral and turned into memes poking fun at the intensity in Phelps’ facial expression.
Now, days later the glare that Phelps gave his rival ahead of the 200m butterfly semi-final has turned into a tattoo.
Chronic Ink, a tattoo shop located in Toronto, shared the creation on the shops Snapchat on Thursday and the ‘Phelps Face’ tattoo has become more than just an instant classic on the internet.
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Livia Tsang, the tattoo artist that created the Phelps piece, told Global News the portrait was done on her boss.
“I definitely saw the memes beforehand, and when he sent me the photo via WhatsApp, we had a bit of a laugh about it but then pretty spontaneously decided to go ahead and do it,” the tattoo artist revealed. “He sent me the photo after Phelps won his 21st gold medal and I knew we had to do it before the Olympics were over, just so we could be included in the fun.”
Tsang also revealed that her boss, named Ricky Fung, is planning on filling up the rest of his leg with other portraits of athletes and influential people.
“Aside from it being a funny photo, my boss, actually has a lot of admiration for Phelps’ work ethic and dedication to his sport. The photo obviously became satirized but for him it’s more representational of perseverance and focus.”
The tattoo took nearly 3 hours to complete and Fung loved the finished Phelps ink.
“Getting tattooed when you work in the industry is really like another day at the office, but I think we both knew that this one was going to get some interesting attention,” Tsang said on finished product.
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Social media has been sharing their ‘Phelps Face’ memes rapidly.
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