To ponder over men’s vs women’s athletics outfits

[edwinbear]

Watching the European Championship athletics. I can’t help but wonder why the women are in their pants, which ride up their bums whilst running whilst the men are in far more practical running shorts.

DH reckons the women must get some input into their outfits - I think they probably don’t.

No idea, but there was an Ethiopian woman in the 10,000m who was wearing a loose vest rather than the midrif showing Lycra top everyone else had on so presumably they do get some say? I agree the usual get up seems both unequal and uncomfortable.

I’d probably choose the belly top if I had abs like them - but the knickers I’d need to fish out during my final sprint, hell no.

Apparently the pants are more efficient than the shorts (in terms of temperature control and aerodynamics) but men don’t think they’re sufficiently masculine so tend not to wear them.

(Previously discussed this with a uni pal who was on the university athletics team)

It's the same with women's fitness gear in shops. Men can run in loose breathable shorts and a fairly normal t-shirt. I need to buy skin tight pants and a crop top apparently or my uterus will fall out.

Yawn be more worried about the men taking part in women’s sports in a few years their will be men’s sports and mixed sports

Help ahhh thank you. So the women do actually have a better outfit for athletics, but the men simply don’t want to wear it.

I can see the potential for a bollock falling out of those knickers too 😂

Itchy 😂😂

I think this whenever I watch athletics.
When you think of te shock horror on here whenever it is suggested that 5 and 6 year olds might have to do PE in their knickers if they don't have PE shorts - always strikes me as odd that grown women do, in front of hundreds of thousands of people.

I noticed in some of the diving that has been on these last few days that the women all have their swimming costumes up in their bum cracks. Looks SO uncomfortable.

What I find a little perplexing is how all the male sprinters wear cycling-style shorts, and the distance runners wear old-school short running shorts.

Holly Bradshaw had a short-sleeved all-in-one for the pole vault, similar to the ones the men have been wearing. It looked very comfortable and suited her.

The high cut on the women’s diving swimsuits was outrageous! You’d need a full Hollywood wax before going on TV (which your dad will be watching) in those buggers. Baywatch was less revealing.

This applies to tennis clothes too. The men get to wear sensible shorts and t-shirt type tops, the women have to wear silly skirts or dresses with shorts underneath and what look like quite tight tops.

Still, at least they've given up on the frilly knickers they used to wear underneath.

Even the mixed relay triathletes. The women are in their pants, the men in their comfy all in one, unitard things. For the same event

Yes, athletes get a say in their clothing - as do their coaches and in some cases the sport's governing body. Plus of course designers of the national strip, though they will be producing designs that fit the requirements given to them.

Tight Lycra is best for most track and field. And can be worn by both sexes. How do you think Linford Christie got the nn 'The Lunchbox'?

For longer distance running, the key thing is that it does not chafe. I can only assume that the baggies which some athletes choie to wear aren't as uncommon a chafe risk as they look.

In tennis, the men's outfits have become simpler and more practical over the years. They used to all wear button-up polo shirts and tight shorts with buttons and zips. Women's tennis fashion seems to have got increasingly fussy in recent years.

I wish I could wear my DH s baggy swim shorts. Fashion is cruel to women.

I’d certainly like to think all athletes get a say in what they wear, I’m conscious I know very little about it - but can’t help but think there is a crowd pulling decision in the knickers (as in beach volleyball).

I would be super happy to be proved wrong by any female athletes

I think if there was a real advantage to be gained from running in your pants, then men would do it too.

Yes the women get a say. Sex sells and they know that by being attractive (sexy?) for the few weeks a year they get lots of TV exposure, they'll get more advertising and endorsement income.

Kindergarden you can! Decathlon sells baggy style swim shorts for women.
And I saw swim leggings in Lidl this week, what a great idea!

'I think if there was a real advantage to be gained from running in your pants, then men would do it too,

Essentially, they do. Skin tight Lycra - bit longer in the leg but that's to contain bollocks.

Longer lengths are available for females - there were a variety in use today in the women's marathon in Berlin. But many chose the shorter version - probably because they are most like what they choose to wear in training. Fashion will play a role (Wimbledon clothes restrictions have been remarkably unchanged for years, but the interpretation of them has changed over the decades and people have tended to go with the fashion), but never, at top level, at the expense of functionality.

If you look back at some of the men's athetics kit - say 1989s - it goes through phases of being alarmingly revealing. And, like women's, has settled on skin-tight for just about everything.

The women don't train in their pants, you can see from their tan lines that they wear longer shorts, like the men's to train in. I agree the lycra makes sense but knickers for your backside to eat don't make any sense from a performance pov.

but men don’t think they’re sufficiently masculine so tend not to wear them

No, it's 'cos bollocks fall out of anything that high cut.

AuntieStella, men's sportswear in general has become much more flesh-covering since the 1980s, although it does tend to be very form-fitting now.

Footballers in the '80s played in shorts that look like bikini bottoms compared to the ones they wear now. When a male pro footballer is standing still, all the skin you can usually see is his hands, face and knees now. Tennis is the same, although short sleeves are the norm and they don't tend to wear long socks.

Do you think the designers create a number of outfits for women i.e. these are the knickers, these are mid length shorts, and these are long shorts and they all just choose the knickers? I’d love to know.

but knickers for your backside to eat don't make any sense from a performance pov

Given the GB women (at least) have the option of longer shorts (Holly Bradshaw at least was wearing them) you'd've thought some of the women would've chosen them if they had a performance advantage?

These athletes are doing everything legal (and possibly things that are not) to go as fast as they can, equipment choice isn't going to be an exception.

It’s the gymnastics outfits that get me. Men can wear unitards or shorts and vest. Girls have to wear leotards, they are not allowed to wear tights or knickers? What on earth is that about?