I’m sure you know what I mean.
Hair tied back in a big scrunchie - the kind of scrunchie you last wore when you were 9 years old.
Glittery make up.
Plaits, braids and hair clips.
I understand a lot of sports have a uniform but ultimately, if you take a track and field athlete, a swimmer and a tennis player just before they perform, you wouldn’t really be able to tell which sport they play just by looking at them. But you can identify the gymnasts from a mile away.
It isn’t just at Olympic level either. Even the little girls in weekend gymnastic clubs have the same sort of style.
Is it some kind of male gaze thing? Or is there a “type” of girl who grows up wanting to be a gymnast? I’ve always associated gymnasts with the sort of girls who didn’t really grow up, but I’ve now realised just how wrong that is.
I think what they can do is incredible, and Simone Biles is great. But there’s something about the “look” of gymnastics that’s always bothered me, and I can’t put my finger on what it is. Anyone else?