Team USA has new sponsorship deal with FIGS to outfit medical staff

This team of Americans in Paris won’t be the most famous or most decorated when it comes to athletic prowess and medals during the Olympic and Paralympic Games . But they deserve all the recognition and accolades for helping keep Team USA healthy and strong, said Trina Spear, CEO and co-founder of FIGS , a brand of medical apparel.

That's why for the first time the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee will have a sponsor — FIGS — for Team USA’s medical staff in Paris. They are the doctors, surgeons, nurses, trainers and others who take care of over 850 athletes during the Olympics and Paralympics. With the partnership announced Thursday, the medical team will be featured in advertising campaigns during the Paris Games that will run as part of NBC Universal's coverage and on billboards and subways in New York and other locations. In addition, FIGS will host a viewing party of the Opening Ceremony at New York's Washington Square Park (a nod to the Arc de Triomphe) on July 26.

“We are putting the spotlight on the people who do this amazing work,” Spear said in an interview Tuesday. “What we are doing is really supporting the people who are saving lives.”

FIGS has created an ad featuring 14 medical professionals who were in Colorado Springs working with athletes. There are emergency and sports medicine doctors, athletic trainers, a sports neurologist, a chiropractor and sports psychologist shown examining and stretching athletes, and in some cases putting athletes back together after a separated shoulder or cut above the eye.

In the ad, medical staff are wearing a special limited-edition FIGS x Team USA collection that includes red, white and blue scrubs. FIGS' partnership with the USOPC continues through the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics and Paralympics.

With more than 1 million followers on Instagram and TikTok, FIGS has revolutionized the industry. Spear notes that scrubs traditionally were boxy, ill fitting and itchy, but the company has worked hard to change that. For the Paris Games, FIGS will provide scrubs, stadium jackets, compression socks and other gear to the USOPC medical team of more than 250 people, which includes many volunteers.

Spear said the partnership is a continuation of what the company has been doing over the last decade, "putting a spotlight on health care."

"We wanted to really inspire the next generation to not just become Simone Biles, who is amazing," Spear said, "but also about wanting to become a health care professional. To be honest, we need more health care professionals (not just treating athletes) but treating lay people."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Team USA has new sponsorship deal with FIGS to outfit medical staff