Livvy Dunne finished her runway walk with a perfect split—what a way to kick off the show! On May 31, 2025, the Miami night buzzed with excitement. The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Runway had made its way into the Magic City. Bethenny Frankel’s bold leopard print turned heads with every step. Singer Jessie Murph lit up the runway with raw energy, dressed to impress, and turned heads. Her voice filled the venue as she performed her unreleased track, Touch Me Like a Gangster. As the night reached its peak, she closed the show with her hit Blue Strips. In this event, Jordan Chiles did something that caught everybody’s attention. What was that?

 “So Jordan Chiles, she got this cute tattoo that she showed off, and it was a string bikini hanging on a clothesline in honor of her first Sports Illustrated swimsuit cover girl moment,” said Blake Lew-Merwin in the recent episode of the Well Played podcast. Chiles was honored as the cover girl of the 2025 edition alongside Olivia Dunne, Lauren Chan, and Salma Hayek. The Paris Olympics gold medalist donned a polka-dotted blue-and-golden bikini as she walked the ramp.

At the edge of the ramp, she stood and pointed at her waist where her new tattoo could be seen, a bikini top and bottom hanging from a clothesline, with the line extending into the number 25, symbolizing the year of her achievement. She had the tattoo done just hours before walking the runway at the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit show in Miami on May 31, 2025. Jordan Chiles even surprised everyone by doing a front flip on the runway, showing off her gymnastics skills as well. 

She donned a white swimsuit with a cowboy hat as well. Joining Blake in the conversation, her co-host, Amanda Duberman, said, “I love people that are tattoo people and just like get a tattoo to celebrate like an occasion.” Blake agreed, saying, “I know, I need to be more like a free spirit. Let it all hang out like that, you know what I mean? That was my second time saying let it all hang out.“

Wondering who she said ‘let it all hang out’ the first time for? Paralympian Ali Truwit – a two-time silver medalist at the 2024 Paris Paralympics.

Ali Truwit walked the SI ramp

Blake said, “And so she went down the walkway on, it was actually her birthday, her 25th birthday. And it was the second anniversary of her amputation because she actually got, she was like in a shark attack. Two years ago. And so she had to get her, basically, like her leg from her knee down amputated. And so she got to model not only in the magazine but also on this runway show.” Ali Truwit was born on May 31, 2000, and walked the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Runway Show on May 31, 2025.

In May 2023, she was near the Turks and Caicos Islands when a shark attacked her. The shark bit off a massive chunk of her left foot and part of her lower leg. She was then rushed to a hospital where she underwent two surgeries. On her 23rd birthday, she had her left leg amputated below the knee.

Now, two years later, she wore two different swimsuits to walk the Sports Illustrated Runway. The first was colorful with seashell decorations, and the second was a denim swimsuit with a cowboy hat. If that’s not inspiring, then what is?

What are your thoughts on Chiles’ tattoo choice and Truwit’s inspiring tale behind the walk? Tell us in the comments below.