With words like “strippers,” “patriarchy,” and “outrageous" being used, the new U.S. Olympic women’s track and field uniforms may cause people to look differently at Olympic track and field. But that's not good, critics say.
Apparel will be a focus of the 2024 Olympics, Nike Vice President of Apparel Innovation Janett Nichol said, CBS Sports reported.
The Paris games will be a "moment for apparel," she said. And many believe the focus on apparel will overshadow the Olympic events.
Despite the Nike Sports Research Lab reportedly doing body scanning and analysis of motion in its designing of the uniforms, there has been a lot of negative response.
It was a response similar to that regarding Nike's contribution to Major League Baseball. In both cases, the responses, like the uniforms themselves, have been revealing.
Olympic runners should be just that, "runners, not strippers," according to a post by Heather Lane.
These are runners, not strippers. Give them some shorts.
— Heather Lane 𝕏 (@goldengirlinlv) April 13, 2024
"This is a joke, right?" MaureenWRC posted. "Running in that outfit will gather the material in the center, exposing everything. Why can't the women wear the same thing as the men?"
This is a joke, right? Running in that outfit will gather the material in the centre exposing everything.
Why can’t the women wear the same thing as the men?
— MaureenWRC💚🤍💜 (@MaureenWRC) April 12, 2024
"It's a game-changer for us," Nichol said about the clothing, "because we've now been able to take athlete insights, along with data and use that algorithm to create something that allows us to get to a level of specificity, fidelity and accuracy that we've never been able to do before."
Perhaps. But two running coaches raised questions, Sporting News reported.
"Did anyone consult a woman on this race kit...?" coach Katherine Wuestenfeld asked. And coach Alison Staples said, "If the labia are hanging out on a still mannequin, what do we expect to happen to a moving person?"
On social media, Olympic long jumper Tara Davis-Woodhall was more direct: "wait my hoo haa is gonna be out."
Two-time U.S. 5,000-meter champion Lauren Fleshman said the new uniforms create a double standard since they wouldn't be tolerated in women's basketball or soccer.
If the uniform was "truly beneficial to physical performance, men would wear it," she added, according to Sporting News.
"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," Fleshman continued.
In a post, Linda Flanagan called the uniforms "outrageous" and predicted that what were, in effect, bathing suits would trickle down to girls' high school sports.
It's outrageous that American women runners competing in the Olympics this summer will be wearing a glorified one-piece bathing suit. These costume designs trickle down; before long, we'll see them on GIRLS' high school track and xc teams. https://t.co/PQMpynAhDu
— Linda Flanagan (@LindaFlanagan2) April 13, 2024
Katie Moon, gold medalist pole vaulter returning to Paris, said on X that she had tried on the uniform.
In an Instagram post she said the uniform shown on the mannequin "was concerning, and warranted the response it received," Fox News reported.
But she said Olympians had a choice in what to wear.
"When you attack the buns and crop top saying something along the lines of it’s ‘sexist’ (which if that was our only choice, it would be), even if it’s with the best of intentions, you’re ultimately attacking our decision as women to wear it," according to Moon.
"And if you honestly think that on the most important days of our careers we’re choosing what we wear to appease the men watching over what we’re most comfortable and confident in, to execute to the best of our abilities, that’s pretty offensive," she continued.
"I personally like the buns because I want as little fabric clinging to me when I’m hot and sweaty (which I am at 99% of meets I compete in)."
