AP PHOTOS: Athletes showcase tattoos of Olympic rings, lions and superheroes at World Indoors

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Sarah Mitton of Canada, left, and Chase Jackson, of the United States, participate in the women’s Shot Put final during the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Nanjing, China, Friday, March 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

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Jakob Ingebrigtsen, of Norway, celebrates after winning the gold medal in the men’s 3000 meters final at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Nanjing, China, Saturday, March 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

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Valters Kreiss, of Latvia, practices before the start of the men’s pole vault final during the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Nanjing, China, Saturday, March 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

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Matheus Lima prepares to compete in 400 meters men’s heat during the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Nanjing, China, Friday, March 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

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Jacory Patterson, left, of the United States, receives the baton from teammate Brian Faust, during the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Nanjing, China, Sunday, March 23, 2025.(AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

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Ewa Swoboda of Poland stand after winning the women’s 60 meter semifinal during the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Nanjing, China, Saturday, March 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

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Devine Charlton, of Bahamas, celebrates after winning gold in the women’s 60 meter hurdles at the the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Nanjing, China, Sunday, March 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

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Chase Jackson, of the United States, competes in the women’s Shot Put final during the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Nanjing, China, Friday, March 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

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Jacory Patterson stands before the start of 400 meters men’s heat during the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Nanjing, China, Friday, March 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

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Valters Kreiss, of Latvia, makes an attempt in the men’s pole vault final during the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Nanjing, China, Saturday, March 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

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Camryn Newton Smith competes in the Pentathlon women’s high jump during the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Nanjing, China, Friday, March 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

NANJING, China (AP) — Tattoos depicting warriors, superheroes, lions and the Olympic rings were among the motivational motifs inked onto some of the athletes competing at the World Indoor Championships in Nanjing, China, over the weekend.

For Brazilian sprinter Matheus Lima, the Olympic rings stood out on his right shoulder under the image of a big cat with a full mane when he raced on Friday.

Some other Olympians have more subtle representations of the rings, like Canada’s two-time world indoor shot put champion Sarah Mitton, who has the interconnected blue, black, red, yellow and green logo on the back of her arm.

Athletes traveled from all over the world to compete at the three-day indoor championships, and the styles of body art varied as much as the individuals who jumped, ran or threw in the hope of winning medals in Nanjing.

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Olympic Hightlights

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FILE - South Africa’s Jacques Freitag competes in the men’s high jump of the 2004 Olympic Games, in the Olympic Stadium in Athens, Friday Aug. 20, 2004. Local media is reporting that South African police have discovered the body of former high jump world champion Jacques Freitag after he went missing last month. The reports said the 42-year-old, who won the 2003 world title in Paris and competed at the 2004 Olympics, had been shot. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)

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FILE - Ilona Maher of USA is tackled by Sharni Williams of Australia in a semifinal of the Rugby World Cup 7’s championship held in Cape Town, South Africa, Sunday, Sept. 11, 2022. The main task for Maher, the breakout social media star on TikTok at the Tokyo Olympics, is winning a medal in Paris. (AP Photo/Halden Krog, File)

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FILE - Jacques Freitag of South Africa waves his national flag after he won the Men’s high jump event at the World Athletics Championships, at the Stade de France in Saint Denis, north of Paris, Monday, Aug. 25, 2003. Local media is reporting that South African police have discovered the body of former high jump world champion Jacques Freitag after he went missing last month. The reports said the 42-year-old, who won the 2003 world title in Paris and competed at the 2004 Olympics, had been shot. (AP Photo/Thomas Kienzle, File)

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Sammy Sullivan of USA in action during HSBC rugby sevens series in Singapore, on May 4, 2024. The anthem played as Army officer Sammy Sullivan stood to attention and saluted beside her U.S. rugby teammates before a gold-medal game in Hong Kong against Olympic champion New Zealand. No prizes for guessing where her mind may have drifted to: Paris in July. (AP Photo/Suhaimi Abdullah)

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USA Water Polo Women’s Senior National Team attacker Ryann Neushul, left, trains at Long Beach City College Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024, in Long Beach, Calif. Following in the footsteps of two older sisters who won gold with the U.S. women’s water polo team, Ryann Neushul is making her Olympic debut in Paris this summer. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

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Iranian wrestler Iman Mahdavi, 28, practices at the Lotta Club Seggiano gym, in Pioltello , northern Italy, Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

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FILE - Steven van de Velde of the Netherlands competes during the CEV Beach Volley Nations Cup Vienna 2022 men’s semifinal game against Austria at the Red Bull Beach Arena in Vienna, Austria, Sunday, Aug. 7, 2022. Van de Velde, convicted and imprisoned eight years ago for raping an underage girl in England has qualified for the Paris Olympics. (AP Photo/Florian Schroetter, File)