44 Pictures That Show How Much Team USA's Gymnastics Uniforms Have Changed Over the Years

You just purchased a 'TEAM USA' t-shirt on Etsy, your plans for the next few weeks revolve around sports, and you're suddenly an expert on the ins and outs of gymnastics scoring. In other words: the 2020 Tokyo Olympics have finally arrived (after a year-long delay!) and the time has come to watch the U.S. gymnastics team compete. And also enjoy their outfits, naturally.

While the looks Olympic athletes wear might not seem like the most important thing ever, for the U.S. gymnastics team, they are! Points get deducted if their leotards aren't perfect, they're custom-made for each athlete, and they take years to design. They're the ultimate mix of style and functionality, and the designers who make them have been doing the most since back in the 1930s.

This year's leotards are from GK Elite, and feature 7,600 Swarovski crystals each. "There's a lot of research and development that goes into it," Kelly McKeown, the chief design officer for GK Elite, told Cosmopolitan back in 2016. "It's something you don't want to rush. If you want to use a new technique, if you want to experiment, then you have to wear-test it, you have to wash-test it, you have to make sure that it's not going to fail on the competition floor."

Click through all 44 photos to how the U.S. gymnastics team's uniforms have evolved over the years!