--- description: It wasn't just Mirai Nagasu's historic triple axel that captured the attention of Olympics viewers, who noticed USA emblazoned on her leg. title: No, That's Not a Gigantic 'USA' Tattoo on Mirai Nagasu's Leg image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf08eba35452ae56a/69892722096a947c9b6a1736/mirai-nagasu-tattoo-olympics-2018.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Newsfeed](/tag/time-section-newsfeed/) ## Newsfeed Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # No, That's Not a Gigantic 'USA' Tattoo on Mirai Nagasu's Leg  by [Cady Lang](/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 12, 2018 4:33 PM CUT  GANGNEUNG, SOUTH KOREA - FEBRUARY 12: Mirai Nagasu of USA competes in the Ladies Free Skating during the Figure Skating Team Event on day three of the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games at Gangneung Ice Arena on February 12, 2018 in Gangneung, South Korea. (Photo by Jean Catuffe/Getty Images) GANGNEUNG, SOUTH KOREA - FEBRUARY 12: Mirai Nagasu of USA competes in the Ladies Free Skating during the Figure Skating Team Event on day three of the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games at Gangneung Ice Arena on February 12, 2018 in Gangneung, South Korea. (Photo by Jean Catuffe/Getty Images)Jean Catuffe—Getty Images  by [Cady Lang](/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 12, 2018 4:33 PM CUT [Mirai Nagasu](http://time.com/5143981/mirai-nagasu-olympic-team-figure-skating/ "undefined") made history on Sunday night at the [2018 Winter Olympics](http://time.com/5123348/winter-olympics-2018-schedule/ "undefined") in [Pyeongchang, South Korea](http://time.com/5070315/winter-olympics-2018-location/ "undefined") when she became the [first American woman to land the extremely difficult triple axel](http://time.com/5143814/mirai-nagasu-triple-axel-olympics-2018/ "undefined") in an Olympic competition. But it wasn’t just this incredible accomplishment that captured the attention of viewers, who noticed that the skater had ‘USA’ emblazoned in large letters on her leg, speculating that the skater had a thigh tattoo. While many wondered if Nagasu was so proud of being on Team USA that she got a tattoo on her leg to pay homage to the home team, it turns out that Nagasu was actually using Team USA-branded kinesiology tape, something KT Tape, the company that makes it that was confirmed on social media. > [](https://twitter.com/KTTape/status/962902699766292480) Nagasu isn’t the only high-profile athlete who’s gotten buzz for wearing the supportive KT tape; earlier this year, Tom Brady used the tape to provide relief for his injured hand during the [AFC championship game](https://chicago.suntimes.com/sports/tom-brady-kt-tape-hand-patriots/ "undefined"). > [](https://twitter.com/UglyPinkLeo/status/962876709656825856) > [](https://twitter.com/LaksmiHedemark/status/962875161727897600) > [](https://twitter.com/kaneandgriffin/status/962902598964559872) > [](https://twitter.com/mirai%5Fnagasu/status/963069000790917123) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5144422/mirai-nagasu-thigh-tattoo/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5144422/mirai-nagasu-thigh-tattoo/"},"headline":"No, That's Not a Gigantic 'USA' Tattoo on Mirai Nagasu's Leg","datePublished":"2018-02-12T16:33:41.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:50:32.273Z","description":"It's not what you think it is","url":"https://time.com/5144422/mirai-nagasu-thigh-tattoo/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Winter Olympics","2018 Pyeongchang Olympics"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf08eba35452ae56a/69892722096a947c9b6a1736/mirai-nagasu-tattoo-olympics-2018.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Cady Lang","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/cady-lang/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf08eba35452ae56a/69892722096a947c9b6a1736/mirai-nagasu-tattoo-olympics-2018.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Figure Skating - Winter Olympics Day 3","caption":"Figure Skating - Winter Olympics Day 3","creditText":"Jean Catuffe—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5144422/mirai-nagasu-thigh-tattoo/","name":"No, That's Not a Gigantic 'USA' Tattoo on Mirai Nagasu's Leg"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Mirai Nagasu Makes History as the First American Woman to Land a Triple Axel at the Olympics","description":"During her free skate for the figure skating team event at the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea, Mirai Nagasu made history when she landed a triple axel, becoming the first American woman to do so at the Olympics.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/Swwg8lRV/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2018-02-12T05:17:50.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Swwg8lRV.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5144422/mirai-nagasu-thigh-tattoo/","duration":"PT1M22S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5144422/mirai-nagasu-thigh-tattoo/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```