Lewiston, Maine Company Made Boots Worn by Team USA in Olympic Opening Ceremonies

The 2022 Olympic Winter Games have kicked off in Beijing with an amazing opening ceremony that saw dazzling special effects inside of National Stadium.

Each nation's athletes marched into the stadium, flying the country's flag and dress in winter gear with temperatures in the 20s. When Team USA made their entrance, they were adorned in red, white and blue winter gear with boots that were made right here in Maine.

For the third Olympic games in-a-row, Team USA has word footwear made by hand by Rancourt and Company Shoemakers. David Rancourt opened his shoe factory in 1967 after moving to Lewiston from Quebec to learn the trade. Over 50 years later, Rancourt and Company are still making their hand-sewn shoes while nearly every other shoe manufacturer in Maine has shut down as manufacturing moved overseas.

According to a great article from the Sun Journal highlighting the people behind the manufacturing process, the boots Team USA wore during the Winter Olympics opening ceremonies were crafted by Rancourt and Company for Ralph Lauren.

The boots come in white for the men and red for the women and each has a badge that matches the ones on the rest of their other winter gear.

If you missed seeing Team USA wearing these handmade boots manufactured right here in Maine, the athletes will be wearing them again for the closing ceremonies on February 20. You'll need to get up early if you want to catch it live though. With the time difference, it will be 8 p.m. in Beijing but 7 a.m. here in the United States.