i have serious olympic fever. i’m not one for regrets, but missing the sydney olympics in 2000 is probably one of my few. so being lucky enough to get a second chance, i am unashamedly embracing london 2012 with ludicrous excitement.

during my fixation on the television (and in person last night – woop!) during my favourite sport, the swimming, i have been in awe of the female competitors gorgeous patriotic nail art. rebecca adlington displayed impressive union jacks as she picked up her bronze medal on sunday, and the trend has been equally popular among the other teams, with american flags, canadian maple leaves, australian flags and proud olympic rings on display.

rebecca adlington’s union jack nail art, courtesy of nailporn

the olympians’ manicures primarily come courtesy of the enormously talented sophy robson of nailporn, who has set up a salon within the athletes village, and already boasts an a-list clientele of rosie huntington-whiteley, alexa chung and henry holland.

lacking a pass into the athletes village at olympic park, i decided to give an olympic manicure a go myself in preparation for my first spectator event at monday night’s swimming finals.

cheering for both the aussies and team gb, i decided to go neutral with olympic ring colours in a french manicure design. here is how i did it:

paint two base coats of stark white and allow to dry completely. next, carefully paint a thin line of each olympic colour in the order they appear in the rings – blue, yellow, black, green and red. clean up the excess polish, paint on a clear top coat and you’re done!

 you need a steady hand, and don’t be tempted to keep perfecting the line, or it will be too thick and smudgy. if you can get it one clean swipe, leave it! i’m feeling even more festive now, if that were possible, and ready for the beach volleyball in a few days.

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