Michael Phelps’ terrifying game face meme will live on after Rio 2016, in the form of this intense tattoo.
Ricky Fung found the sight of the American swimmer staring down his rivals before the 200-meter butterfly semifinal so inspiring, the tattoo parlor owner had the astonishingly realistic image inked onto his right calf Thursday.
“I wasn’t even a big Phelps fan before this, and I’m not really a swim fan,” he told ESPN. “But just seeing him go out and win the way he has has been inspiring to me.”
Fung enlisted Livia Tsang, his resident tattoo artist at Chronic Ink parlor in Toronto, Canada, for the painstaking three-hour job.
“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 told Global News.
“Aside from it being a funny photo, my boss actually has a lot of admiration for Phelps’ work ethic and dedication to his sport,” she added, saying that it represented “perseverance and focus.”
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