Rachel Dixon November 15, 2011

Knitted Olympic stars – in pictures

A new book allows you to knit your own Olympian. But how closely do the knitted characters resemble the real sporting heroes? Rachel Dixon finds out

Knitted Olympians: Sebastian Coe and Steve Ovett — Sebastian Coe and Steve Ovett, both 800m and 1500m Olympic medal-winners in Moscow, 1980. Seb Coe also took gold and silver medals in Los Angeles, 1984
Photograph: Steve Powell/Getty/Holly Jolliffe/Knitlympics Photograph: Steve Powell/Getty/Knitlympics

Knitted Olympians: Carolina Kluft — Carolina Kluft, a heptathlete who won gold in Athens in 2004
Photograph: Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters/Holly Jolliffe/Knitlympics Photograph: Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters/Knitlympics

Knitted Olympians: Carl Lewis — Carl Lewis, a sprinter and long jumper who won medals in Los Angeles 1984, Seoul 1988, Barcelona 1992 and Atlanta 1996
Photograph: David Cannon/Allsport/Holly Jolliffe/Knitlympics Photograph: David Cannon/Allsport/Knitlympics

Knitted Olympians: Jesse Owens — Jesse Owens, a sprinter and long jumper who won four golds at Berlin in 1936
Photograph: Joe Caneva/AP/Holly Jolliffe/Knitlympics Photograph: Joe Caneva/AP

Knitted Olympians: Richard Fosbury — Richard Fosbury, a highjumper who invented the Fosbury Flop technique and took gold in Mexico City, 1968
Photograph: Bettmann/Corbis/Holly Jolliffe/Knitlympics Photograph: Bettmann/Corbis/Knitlympics

Knitted Olympians: Usain Bolt — Usain Bolt, a sprinter who won three gold medals in Beijing, 2008
Photograph: Michael Kappeler/AFP/Getty Images/Holly Jolliffe/Knitlympics Photograph: Michael Kappeler/AFP/Getty Images/Knitlympics

Knitted Olympians: Florence Griffith-Joyner — Florence Griffith-Joyner, or Flo-Jo, a sprinter who won silver at Los Angeles 1984 and three golds and a silver at Seoul 1988
Photograph: Rik Wilking/EPA/Holly Jolliffe/Knitlympics Photograph: Rik Wilking/EPA/Knitlympics

Knitted Olympians: Mark Spitz — Mark Spitz, a swimmer who took two golds, a silver and a bronze in Mexico, 1968, and seven golds in Munich, 1972
Photograph: AFP/Getty Images/Holly Jolliffe/Knitlympics Photograph: AFP/Getty Images/Knitlympics

Knitted Olympians: Cathy Freeman — Cathy Freeman, a sprinter who won silver in Atlanta, 1996, and gold in Sydney, 2000
Photograph: Popperfoto/Getty Images/Holly Jolliffe/Knitlympics Photograph: Popperfoto/Getty Images/Knitlympics

Knitted Olympians: Olga Korbut — Olga Korbut, a gymnast who won three golds and a silver in Munich, 1972, and one gold and a silver in Montreal, 1976
Photograph: Corbis/Holly Jolliffe/Knitlympics Photograph: Corbis/Knitlympics

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