Olympic athletes make some pretty ridiculous faces

Getty Images/Richard HeathcoteJapanese swimmer Kosuke Hagino celebrates winning gold in the 400m individual medley.

Winning gold medals isn’t always pretty.

But if you want to perform superhuman feats of strength, endurance, and artistry at the Olympic games, sometimes you have to twist your face into strange contortions.

We salute these 25 athletes who care more about winning than being photogenic — and the photographers who captured their expressions forever.

Patricio Garino shoots the ball during a preliminary round game between Nigeria and Argentina.

Getty Images/Elsa

Brazil's Neymar Jr. heads the ball during a match against Iraq.

Getty Images/Celso Junior

Team USA's Laurie Hernandez prepares to land on the balance beam.

Getty Images/David Ramos

This is why 16-year-old Hernandez is about to tear up the gymnastics world.

American diver Kristian Ipsen executes a training dive.

Getty Images/Adam Pretty

Yun Chol Om of North Korea competes in the men's 56kg weightlifting contest.

Getty Images/Lars Baron

Yuki Uchiyama of Japan competes on the uneven bars.

Getty Images/David Ramos

Japan's Koji Takei swims in a preliminary water polo game versus Greece.

Getty Images/Tom Pennington

Canadian rugby player Karen Paquin scores in a game against Brazil.

Getty Images/David Rogers

Oksana Chusovitina of Uzbekistan competes on the vault.

Getty Images/Tom Pennington

PS: She's a 41-year-old mum who's competing in her seventh Olympics.

German table tennis player Dimitrij Ovtcharov volleys with Qatar's Li Ping.

Getty Images/Tom Pennington

Joseph Clarke of Great Britain paddles through a kayak heat.

Getty Images/Jamie Squire

Russian gymnast Nikolai Kuksenkov flips off of the parallel bars.

Getty Images/Alex Livesey

Konstantinos Flegkas blocks a shot in a preliminary water polo matchup between Greece and Japan.

Getty Images/Tom Pennington

Novak Djokovic of Serbia plays a backhand in a singles match against Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina.

Getty Images/Clive Brunskill

Brazilian diver Tammy Takagi competes in the synchronised springboard diving final.

Getty Images/Clive Rose

Adriana Pinto, left, and Tessa Lavey fight for the ball in a women's basketball game between Brazil and Australia.

Getty Images/Christian Petersen

American swimmer Michael Phelps -- the most decorated Olympian of all time -- aggressively cheers his teammates in the 4x100 freestyle relay.

Getty Images/Ryan Pierse

Here's why he has that weird circular bruise on his shoulder.

Mai Murakami of Japan launches into a vault.

Getty Images/Jamie Squire

Australia's Mariafe Artacho del Solar of Australia dives during a beach volleyball match with Switzerland.

Getty Images/Ezra Shaw

Team USA's Madison Keys plays a singles match against France's Kristina Mladenovic.

Getty Images/Clive Brunskill

British gymnast Max Whitlock of Great Britain flies high above the parallel bars.

Getty Images/Alex Livesey

Australia's Caitlin Foord and German's Annike Krahn face off in women's soccer.

Getty Images/Alexandre Schneider

Brazil's Marina Gobbi Canetta prepares to shoot during an archery elimination round.

Getty Images/Buda Mendes

Victor Scvortov of United Arab Emirates (in blue) fights Shohei Ono of Japan in men's Judo.

Getty Images/David Ramos

Sabine Kusterer of Germany competes during the women's 58kg weightlifting contest.

Getty Images/Lars Baron

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