Why do women athletes compete in clothing so skimpy it could be underwear?

Oh and teasndhugs, do you know any 16 year old girls who don't trim their pubic hair. They do it anyway to change for PE or go swimming. Nothing to do with gymnastic costumes. Just as they shave their legs and their underarms and wear make up.

Their costumes are far less sexual than the tops and hot pants that even my 11y favours.

They are quite deliberately cut with high necks such that from 15-26+ ( there is a german Vaulter with children ) they look young and elegant.

Yes the tight modern lycra shows their maturing curves. That is how it should be, the older ones shouldn't feel the pressure they did in the past to stay children.

There are E Germans who will never have children because of what was done in the past

Today we have learnt to appreciate them for their athletic skill and realise that skill is done by highly trained women.

Female gymnasts wear what female gymnasts and ballet dancers have always worn.

Their costumes are designed to interrupt the elegance of the body shape.

I believe girls didn't used to be allowed knickers under ballet leotards. It's recently they have rebelled.

Likewise, I think it's new that girls have taken to putting shorts over their leotards for training.

Sadly nonsense like this thread is making them self conscious in a way they never were before.

Just as we would have done handstands and cartwheels at school and never for one moment have worried about showing our knickers.

Gymnastics and dancing is about the elegance of the whole body and remember that is what the audience and the judges see.

Yes on a TV close up we might see a nipple or be very aware how high cut the legs are, but that is not what the costumes are about. Nor should they change them to accommodate a few perverts.

When I run on the treadmill in private I wear sports bra and knickers. I definitely prefer it to the lycra shorts plus vest top I wear when running in public. If I didn't think it would make me look like a bit of a twat I would wear the skimpy athlete outfits.

I think the athletes must have a say in what they wear otherwise women from the same country wouldn't have different styles of clothes.

That quote from the athletes makes me suspicious. It's when logic is ignored that you really start to think there's something underhand at work.

If they want the best bra that engineering science can supply, they could wear a bra with a vest over it, or it could be built into a vest. It wouldn't have to be worn alone, unless the objective is to show some skin. Yet it is worn alone.

And the male sprinters may be wearing short shorts, but they aren't running in knickers. So is there something about the way women run that says even minimal shorts are too much, when they do suit men? Or can it be that part of the performance is to display the body (as long as it's a female one) to the max? Of course the greatest extreme is with the volleyball players--it's strange how similar activity demands such different costumes for women and men!

I did see two American women runners on the course in full-length suits (long arms and legs) a few days ago but I'm pretty sure that they did it because it was cool weather--they certainly don't dress that way all the time.

LadyClarice, a poster called FakePlasticTrees posted at the bottom of page 2. Her sister-in-law is an ex-Team GB athlete, and answered your question about what the athletes think;

'She said that there are longer vest options, but they tend to not be as supportive, and boobs need control! Apparently minimum clothing is a good thing as it doesn't get in the way/can make a difference with airflow round you. She pointed out that male sprinters tend to be in outfits that leave very little to the imagination for similar reasons, and longer distance/endurance sports woman tend to be more covered up as it's not as important (not counting triathalon as they have to wear something they can swim in without having to get changed before the other events)'

So I guess if the athletes themselves are comfortable about it, it isn't anyone else's business. Some of this discomfort about the female form - well, isn't this what the Saudi Imam's are spouting too? I am a bit confused to be honest about the OP. We all know that the Olympics is about supreme skill and achievement, not about pervery.

WW it's hard to ignore it, isn't it! And I think you'll find I was laughing rather than leering, which is slightly different

Skirts, for boxing? WTAF?!?!

hmm, is going "aye CARUMBA" at Mr 2nd on the left actually any different to a guy going phwoar at a skimpily clothed female athlete?

I guess he won't be overly happy that people can't look at his picture with a gold medal without inadvertently staring at his penis. I wouldn't be.

Nah, I've only posted twice in the last 2 or 3 months, just on this thread, so nothing else to be deleted that I can remember. Must read these guidelines they are talking about one day . I'll give this post 10 mins...

Aye CARUMBA to the man second from the left! And yikes

you could take an eye out with that!

NoLogo I was a bit foxed by that reply to my post and have no complaints about SGM reporting. it seems that lots of that posters stuff has gone so maybe each report added up.

Plenty of male athletes in skimpy kit around

example

When the 100m sportsmen lined up for the 100m final in their very form fitting clothing, you could spot the drugs cheat

Female sportspeople talking recently about apparrel

boxing

badminton

I can't find anything about female gymnasts at the moment though.

I'd love to hear from some female athletes about their clothes and how much say they have in what they wear.

Any journalists on here who could pitch and put together an article?

Has anyone asked the female gymnasts what they think?

This annoys me too. All the male gymnasts seem to be wearing long pants or shorts, while the women are in leotards. There are girls of 16 competing who must be having to remove their pubic hair or it would be showing out of the sides of their costumes. I understand that it's a small price to pay for competing in the Olympics, but it's a shame that they're having to put their teenage bodies on display and modify them to fit the costumes.

I think I saw one of the olympic female boxers wearing a compression top. She was actually quite good so I doubt she needed it in a competitive sense. I'd be very wary about routinely training with one though; as a consequence of increased intra-abdominal pressure it may condition your body to be able to do things it otherwise wouldn't (minus the top).

But the Olympics are a bit like F1 racing; anything that genuinely improves performance eventually gets banned! Let's wait and see.

'...a study presented at the 2007 American College of Sports Medicine annual meeting in New Orleans suggested there were no statistically significant differences in maximal oxygen consumption, heart rate or minute ventilation between treadmill runners who wore compression socks and those who did not. According to the study, conducted at Stellenbosch University in South Africa, subjects did, however, show a faster lactate recovery rate after exercise when wearing the compression socks, suggesting that compression socks might speed recovery after a strenuous workout or a race.'

I use compression tops in the gym and at boxing training. I have found that I feel better quicker afterwards, perhaps because a lot of the movement is high-impact. Of course it could just all be in my head - I expect to feel better, so I do. There is no doubt that they make me look more awesome though

"Professional athletes?There is no consistent evidence that compression garments improve sporting performance. Muscle soreness seems to be reduced if garments are worn for 24 hours after exercise, but objective measures of recovery are less consistent, and compression garments seem to work no better than other recovery strategies such as low grade exercise or contrast bathing. Potential adverse effects of these garments may include increased skin temperature, decreased thermoregulation, and reduced range of motion."

"Mythbusting sports and exercise products", British Medical Journal, 2012.

The girls just need to Man-Up(TM) and jump in that ice bath.

The only supportive evidence for 'nonce socks' and compression gear in general is that they promote faster recovery after a race/exercise. The ability to improve actual performance is not proved conclusively. Of course, some athletes might be paid handsome sums to wear them.....

"But unlike the sleeves - which I have seen on roughly equal numbers male/female - the socks appear to be a overwhelmingly female item, which I wouldn't have expected if they were being chosen for performance reasons."

Well... if I was going to dress up like a nonce to help me become a superior runner, there'd better be a large amount of scientific evidence suggesting that nonce-socks work.

There isn't.

Interesting. Thanks, namechange.

I wondered if it might be something to do with that (like the sleeves).

But unlike the sleeves - which I have seen on roughly equal numbers male/female - the socks appear to be a overwhelmingly female item, which I wouldn't have expected if they were being chosen for performance reasons.