Larry Brown Sports

Like many of us who watched the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, it sounds like Justin Bieber got wrapped up in the athletic ability and fantastic personality of US swimming star Missy Franklin. The 17-year-old Franklin is an admittedly huge Bieber fan, as evidenced by the time she went nuts after he sent her a congratulatory tweet.

Back in August, Justin decided to send her a massive care package loaded with t-shirts, CDs, posters and other stuff. Franklin tweeted a photo of the goods when she received them:

Come to find out, Missy had to send it all back. During a recent interview with ESPN the Magazine, Franklin explained how the gifts from the Biebs nearly jeopardized her amateur status.

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Missy Franklin said before the Games that she was planning to get an Olympics tattoo, and she went through with her plans. The 17-year-old swimmer got a small tattoo of the Olympic rings around her right hip and shared a picture of it on her Twitter account Thursday.

Franklin had the approval of her parents and says this will be her only tattoo.

“Getting a tattoo has never been something ever thought I would do, but this one just has so much meaning to it and it is really something that you have to earn,” Franklin told TODAY.com. “Not a lot of people have the opportunity to get it, so I just feel like it’s an honor to get it.”

“This will be the only one, and she’s earned it,” Dick Franklin told TODAY.com while in London.

We’ll see if this is her only one — lots of people say they’re addictive. Maybe she’ll end up adding to it if she participates in future Olympics the way Stephanie Rice did.

Missy Franklin was probably in heaven after winning her first gold medal at the Olympics on Monday, but little did she know another amazing surprise was yet to come.

The 17-year-old received a congratulatory tweet from teen heartthrob Justin Bieber hours after winning gold:

Safe to say she was more thrilled about hearing from Bieber than winning the medal? You could argue that.

Franklin may already be one of the best swimmers in the world, but she’s still a teenager who attends high school, hangs out with friends, paints her nails in cutesy colors, and loves Justin Bieber’s music. Reactions like that prove just how grounded she is despite emerging as a national star.

I think we’re ripe for a collaboration when Franklin returns from London. Maybe Bieber could cast her in one of his music videos. Hey, if he sees this video of Franklin dancing, there’s no way he would turn her down.

Photo Credit: Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports

Missy Franklin is already becoming one of the stars of the 2012 Summer Games in London. The 17-year-old swimmer won bronze in the 4x100m freestyle relay team Saturday night, and she captured her first Olympic gold medal by winning the 100m backstroke on Monday.

Before the Games began, Franklin tweeted a picture of her toe and fingernails to show that she had painted them in patriotic colors. I’m guessing they’re a lot more colorful than the tattoo she plans to get after the Games. Maybe the red, white, and blue helped bring her good luck in her races.

Photo via Missy Franklin

Missy Franklin is only 17 years old, but she is already set to compete for a gold medal. And you know what parents always say: If you’re old enough to compete in the Olympics, you’re old enough to get a tattoo. Okay, maybe they don’t say that, but Franklin is planning to do just that after the London Olympics end in August.

“I’m definitely going to get a tattoo,” she said while training for the Olympics according to NBC Olympics. “I’m going to get it after the Games.”

Since she’s not old enough to drink in London, Franklin has to do something wild. For those of you who are picturing a giant skull tattoo across the American swimmer’s back, take a deep deep breath. Missy said she intends to get some sort of Olympic-themed ink and that her parents have already approved the idea.

“My parents are fine with it,” she said. “I think they’re just as excited as I am.

“I’ve seen them on all the other athletes and it’s so cool. I’ve used it as my motivation because it’s the only tattoo I’m going to get.”

The location, she said, will be her right hip. That will come in handy if she needs to cover it up during a job interview, but it also means she won’t be able to use it as an advertising space like Nick Symmonds intended to. If she decides to include the word “Olympics,” here’s hoping the tattoo artist doesn’t make an epic mistake like the one we saw on that poor torchbearer’s arm.

Missy Franklin may seem like your ordinary high school student, but in a few months, she’s likely going to be an internationally known Olympic medalist. Before heading off to the Olympic Trials in June, and most likely London after that, the junior swimmer from Regis Jesuit High School in Colorado got a surprise send-off at her school’s annual “Senior Send-off.”

The students unveiled a banner that said “Good Luck Missy,” and Denver Broncos wide receiver Eric Decker spoke to the crowd, receiving hearty cheers from the female students.

Franklin addressed the audience before breaking out some dance moves.

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