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Nike’s Team USA track and field kit for women is needlessly revealing and sexist, female athletes have said after the sportswear brand unveiled its outfits for this summer’s Olympic Games.
Images made public on Thursday of the women’s kit on a mannequin, showing
a very high-cut pantyline, triggered criticism from several athletes for
what they saw as a decision to prioritize skimpiness over function. “They
are absolutely not made for performance,” US steeplechaser Colleen Quigley
said in a message to Reuters.
Lauren Fleshman, the US national champion in the 5000m in 2006 and 2010,
shared even harsher criticism in an Instagram post, writing: “I’m sorry,
but show me one WNBA or NWSL team who would enthusiastically support this
kit. This is for Olympic Track and Field. Professional athletes should be
able to compete without dedicating brain space to constant pube vigilance
or the mental gymnastics of having every vulnerable piece of your body on display. Women’s kits should be in service to performance, mentally and physically. If this outfit was truly beneficial to physical performance,
men would wear it.”
She added: “This is not an elite athletic kit for track and field. This is
a costume born of patriarchal forces that are no longer welcome or needed
to get eyes on women’s sports. ... Stop making it harder for half the population @nike @teamusa @usatf.”
Tara Davis-Woodhall, an American who placed sixth in the long jump at the
Tokyo Games and took silver at last year’s world championships, reacted
with equal parts humor and horror, commenting: “Wait my hoo haa is gonna
be out.”
Debate has raged for years over more revealing outfits for female
Olympians in disciplines from beach volleyball to gymnastics, and some
rules on competition wear are changing. Germany’s women’s gymnastics team
wore full-length bodysuits at the Tokyo Olympics, in what they said was a
stand against sexualisation in the sport. Gymnastics New Zealand last week updated its attire rules to allow women and girls to wear shorts or
leggings over their leotards.
Nike said in an email to Reuters that it was offering athletes unitard
options with both a brief and a short for this Olympics, whereas it only offered the brief for the Tokyo Olympics. Nike’s track and field kits for
men and women include nearly 50 apparel pieces and 12 competition styles
for specific events, the brand said when launching the outfits.
Nike-sponsored pole vaulter Katie Moon, in a post on X, said the kit shown
on the mannequin was “concerning”, but added that women athletes are given
many options on what to wear, and that she prefers briefs to shorts. A spokesperson for USA Track & Field said: “Athlete options and choices were
the driving force for USATF in the planning process with Nike.”
US middle-distance runner Athing Mu and US sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson
were among the athletes modelling Nike’s Olympic kits at the launch show
in Paris. While Mu wore briefs, Richardson wore a version of the outfit
with shorts.
Quigley said Nike should also offer athletes who make the team custom
tailoring to ensure the kit fits perfectly. “Our bodies are all different
and it seems silly to expect us to compete at the highest level of our
sport without a properly fit uniform,” she said.
Nike told Reuters it will have tailors available for Olympic and
Paralympic athletes this year.
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2024/apr/13/nike-olympic-track-and- field-uniforms-women-sexism
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