A few days ago, we brought you the story of Olympic swimmer Stephanie Rice’s Twitter photo featuring herself wearing a swimsuit given to her as a birthday present, and then all the controversy that followed. The swimsuit’s designer posted a picture of herself wearing the same skimpy bikini in support of Rice, and damn. She might raise some controversy all her own!
“Thankyou to the Gorgeous @elliegonsalves for my birthday @veveswimwear bikini,” tweeted Rice along with a picture of her in the “birthday” suit. The Australian gold medalist from the Beijing Games in ’08 made huge waves with the photo, with Twitter followers criticizing the picture, telling Rice she had gone too far and should be focusing on the Olympics, notes the Examiner .
“i feel that stephanie rice posting a photo of herself in swimwear has brought disgrace to the australian swim team and she should be dropped,” tweeted one follower.
Some said that Rice’s photo would endanger her standing with Speedo, one of her sponsors. A rep cleared that accusation up, saying that the photo was merely a “thank you” to designer Ellie Gonsalves, and that Rice didn’t have a relationship with Speedo anymore.
Gonsalves herself lead the charge in support of the Olympic athlete, posting a picture of herself to Twitter wearing the exact same racy bikini, notes NY Daily . “Don’t start a war with the queens of selfies – you won’t win! Right ItsStephRice?,” the designer posted along with the pic.
Both pictures are posted below for a little compare/contrast. My personal opinion? Rice definitely looks good, no question. But designer Gonsalves tips the scale.
What do you think? Leave us your thoughts below!
