07/26/2021 18:36
Clarín.com
sports
Updated 07/26/2021 7:18 PM
The world artistic gymnastics experienced a shock since hundreds of former athletes and athletes in activity denounced
physical, psychological and even sexual abuse
in the discipline, many of them occurred when the young women were minors.
The paradigmatic case led to the sentence to 176 years in prison of
Larry Nassar
, the doctor of the US national team, a serial sexual abuser who even had Simone Biles and
Aly Raisman
, sports icons
as victims
.
On a lesser scale, the same happened in other powers.
At Tokyo 2020, German gymnasts got tired and sent a message to end the "sexualization" of the discipline: they
compete in clothing that covered their entire body
.
"We sat down and said we should surprise. We wanted to show everyone that we are amazing in an important competition," explained
Sarah Voss
, 21, of the decision ahead of the Olympics.
They had already imposed it for the first time when wearing an ankle-length uniform at the European championships last April.
Germany's Pauline Schaefer, in action at Tokyo 2020. Photo Reuters
Unlike what happens in other teams, the gymnasts have a high average age, because
Elisabeth Seitz
(27 years old),
Kim Bui
(32),
Pauline Schafer
(24) and Voss
compete
.
The women lamented that the gymnastics culture tolerated an environment of sexual abuse and harassment on female athletes for years.
And they recalled that men, unlike women, perform the exercises with long pants on the bar or
shorts
for routines on the floor.
Matt Cowan
, one of the commercial managers of GK Elite, the first American producer of gymnastics uniforms, explained that orders for clothing that cover the whole body arrived from countries that prefer this type of clothing for religious reasons.
"We are capable of designing and producing them, but for now we do not have a consumer type project," he clarified.
Sarah Voss does wonders on the beam at Tokyo 2020 Photo EFE
The initiative of the German team for now has not added supporters and even Biles explained that she feels more comfortable competing with the traditional uniform.
"They lengthen my legs and make me look taller," explained the best in history.
"I support their decision to wear whatever they like and that allows them to feel comfortable,
" added Biles, 24.
Fine on the beach handball
The decision of the German women's gymnastics team came days after the Norwegian women's beach handball team was fined for wearing pants similar to the men's, instead of a bikini bottom, during the European Championship in Bulgaria. .
The American singer Pink offered to pay the fine of 1,500 euros imposed on the players by the European Handball Federation.
“I am very proud of your protests against the sexist rules regarding your uniform.
Very good, girls, ”he said.
Norwegian Culture and Sports Minister Abid Raja called the federation's argument for imposing the fine "completely ridiculous."
The Norwegian beach handball team was fined for not wearing a bikini in the European Championship.
Meanwhile, the head of the Tokyo 2020 television broadcast admitted that they are
trying to eliminate hypersexualized images of athletes
.
"Sporty appeal, not sex appeal" is one of the mantras championed by Olympians in an effort to achieve gender equality on the field of play and on screen.
"In our coverage you will not see some things that we have seen in the past, with details and close-ups of body parts," explained Yiannis Exarchos, CEO of Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS).
This can be tricky with the state-of-the-art technology used in sports and disciplines such as beach volleyball, gymnastics, swimming, and athletics.
"What we can do is make sure that our coverage doesn't in any way highlight what people are wearing," Exarchos added.
To achieve this, the IOC, responsible for OBS and which controls the images that are broadcast from Tokyo to the world, advised "not to focus unnecessarily on appearance, clothing or intimate parts of the body" and to retouch or eliminate "problems with the changing room, to respect the integrity of the athlete ”.
Source: ANSA and AP
Look also
Simone Biles and the crude account of her depression after being abused: "I slept all the time because sleeping was the closest thing to death"
Amy Tinkler, the precocious British Olympic medalist who retired due to the trauma of the abuse