Long braids, cornrow, wavy, messy, faux hawk, buzz cut, crew cut, dimensional shag, versatile cut – you name it and you will find it all at the Games Village. But the hairstyles which are turning the heads towards it are more of the indigenous types that the athletes have designed it for themselves.

“It took me three hours to get my hair done this way and I am loving it. My hair represents the colour of my country. It is the colour of Malawi flag -- red, black, green. I am happy that it’s getting the attention of the people around here,” said Beatrice Mwanyali, the 17-year-old women table tennis player from Malawi.

And there is this gentleman with long braids who love his hair to an extreme. “Everybody has developed their style of haircut and I love this. I have taken a lot of pains to maintain it like this and I quite like it this way,” said Maynard from Wales.

Similarly this official from Barbados is quite possessive about his hair, as it took him 20 long years to grow it the way it is now. “I am happy that you all are liking my hairstyle. But let me tell you, this is not a day’s job. I have been growing and maintaining it for the last 20 years. So, it’s a lot of hard work,” said the Barbadian.

There are many who could be spotted with an arch type cut in which the space above the ear is outlined with clippers while many could be seen bald, which is quite popular cut among the athletes. “This also suits the weather condition here,” said many.

Then there are those who could be spotted with a bowl cut, while many could be seen with a brush cut hairstyle in which the sides and back are cut as for a crew-cut.

Speaking about the rush in the beauty salon, the manager of the Beauty Salon at the Games Village said that they have lost the count of sports persons who have come to their salon for getting funky and trendy haircuts. “The athletes are coming from all countries. However, the number from Canada, England, Nigeria have been more,” said the manager, adding that most of the athletes wanted a hairstyle designed by themselves.

“They mostly come here with a designed haircut. They show us the design and we cut it accordingly. They also demand for colouring their in their national flag’s colour. Just a couple of days ago, w had one athlete who got his hair cut in a zig zag manner,” she added.

Courtesy: Village News

By Rakesh Jha