Why do female athletes wear what they do?

[800wow]

There aren't any rules (as there have been in some sports) so the women are competing in next to nothing through choice.

Is it comfortable? They all have a amazing bodies, but do they all like being on TV dressed this way? Is it performance? If so, why don't the men also do it?

Is there pressure from sponsors either directly or because the most 'saleable'get more sponsorship or advertising contracts?

I'm genuinely curious as to why they make these choices. I run and I wear less in competition than I do in training but wouldn't find high cut knickers comfortable to run in.

Yes. That's exactly what they do. Can't blame men for this. 👍

https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/27/opinions/sexualized-uniforms-women-olympics-filipovic/index.html

They did for a while and then they were banned as providing an unfair advantage.

My cousin is a team GB runner, she can run faster in the knicker type shorts because she feels less restricted in the way she can move that she does in the longer type shorts.

it comes down to personal preferences and how you best perform

I agree

One of the reasons I gave up athletics club was the outfits - dealing with bodily hair, labia, buttocks etc was too much for teenage me

Its been covered (pun not intended) but when you are taslking about hundreths of a second or millimeters then the fit of the clothes can cost you the position.

If you watch different disappointed tend to have athletes choosing different clothing.

It’ll be due to the compression of certain clothing as well.

Swimmers - for example - train in trunks. They race in compressed leg suits. It’s about performance.

Men can't wear the same as the women for biological reasons.

😂

What about the diving? The men wear literally nothing and the women have costumes right up their butt cracks.

I'm always gob smacked as to why this is ok.

X

You can see from their tan marks that they train in longer lycra shorts that end mid-thigh. But apparently "buns" are freer.

So why don't they make men's shorts much shorter? Modesty and support for the genitals apparently, yet the trunks on the divers and swimmers...

Double standards.

I think it's a combination of two things.

The Patriarchy 1: we have all internalised the sexualisation of female bodies to such an extent that now to see a 'good' one and not sexualise it feels odd. Men see it as a wasted opportunity to objectify, women might just feel that something's missing.

The Patriarchy 2: if it's actually the case that wearing more revealing kit makes it easier to excel in sport, then the fact that men don't wear the same thing is a corresponding unease with the possible sexualisation of men, and/or 'nah man that looks gay'.

So basically, it's the Patriarchy, as it always is.

I never look at any athletes and think why are they wearing so little. I imagine they wear the thing that is most comfortable and least likely to rub or feel annoying.

Men have different bodies to women. Clothes fit differently in male bodies than they do on female bodies.

Most training isn't balls to the wall full effort so they will be comfortable without wearing race day kit. On race day you put it all out there(effort wise) and wear kit to reflect that.

I was just looking through the Instagram of one pro athlete I follow and she does wear briefs sometimes for training, presumably on the days she thinks it's needed. Shockingly grown women can make decisions about what works best for them on any given day.

I think this is a problem for some observers rather than the athletes. Athletes wear the clothing they and their coaches think will get them the best results. Particularly it will be lightweight and not constrain movement. Male athletes similarly do the same and there is much focus on male athletes as well. Those of us as old as me will remember the press attention on Linford Christie's attire, which was quite clearly to allow him as much flexibility as possible. Upthread someone has noted the work on camera angles to ensure that women are portrayed as respectfully as possible, which I support. I am always nervous when a thread seeks to suggest women should not dress as they choose.

The diving scores depend on producing the minimum amount of splash on entry. I assume they are wearing costumes that are cut do do that.

If it's just choice, then that's fine by me. Those male divers can show me as much of their bodies as they like, I think they are complete works of art.

They do have an element of choice. Holly Bradshaw refused to wear the team kit and she used to wear the Rowers kit (and had her sponsored kit made specially for her). Lots of the distance runners choose to wear vest and shorts.

The GB kit that is supplied is the speed suit (like a leotard), cropped top with shorts (cycling shorts and knicker shorts) and they can request a vest (some of the distance runners prefer this option). There are definitely baggy shorts available as marathon runners sometimes choose these- but don’t think they’re issued routinely in the track kit. If you see the reactions to new kit the speed suit seems very popular with the athletes. I remember Sally Gunnell in similar in the 90s.

I think it’s comfort and fashion. I have a preteen who does another sport and can compete in any combination of clothes (don’t even need to wear team kit) and she chooses a tight fitting vest and short cycling shorts and it feels ‘not in the way’. She doesn’t like anything baggy. I suspect this will end up being a cropped top and shorts when she’s older- it just feels less restricting.

I love it that judgemental people are assuming the tan lines on the thighs haven't come from when they went shopping wearing shorts like ordinary women do.

I looked for information, focusing on pole vaulters as Holly Bradshaw has been a leading voice for change.

What I found:
Media do favour crotch shots of female jumpers;
Many male jumpers wear revealing kit;
and this!
21-year-old pole vaulter Anthony Ammirati, has become an instant viral phenomenon after an incident involving his crotch. He missed his target height and knocked down the pole with his bulge.

The weird world of athletics, huh?!

I suppose, going back to the earliest organised championships (Olympics, then Roman games), they were very much about 'admiring' the naked bodies of athletes ...

Remember the original Olympics (men only) were performed naked.

Oh yes the males have amazing physiques but the women with their arses out somehow detracts from all the hard work they must do to reach that level.

Maybe it's just me.

X

It comes from wearing shorts while training (often at camp in Spain during the cooler months). The amount of time elite athletes spend “going shopping” is minimal. They don’t lead what most people would consider a normal life.

To be fair most elite athletes train in what their sponsors send them. They get sent training kit and competition kit so it’s likely they don’t get sent knicker shorts to train in, but it’s part of the comp bundle (although I know Nike, Puma and Adidas do offer cycling shorts as well)

I'm not saying they can't. But if it really is so much better, why don't men wear shorts that are shorter than the long lycra ones they wear? Why are they mid thigh when they could be higher?

I would like to see some actual evidence of improved effect, such as has been done with the bobsleigh, skeleton and racing cycles to trim drag and improve speed incrementally.

The patriarchy likes seeing women in tiny clothing, maybe if we could see that it actually makes a difference we could agree that it's for athletic reasons rather than men liking watching women in skimpy clothing.

Honestly reading this thread you would think that these athletes aren't grown women with a will of their own.