The power to choose, quite simply.
A wind of emancipation has been blowing through gymnastics for several months.
A wind from Germany which moves the lines to Tokyo.
Athletes Élisabeth Seitz, Sarah Voss, Pauline Schaefer-Betz and Kim Bu sport full wetsuits at the Olympics.
With a clear message: down with the diktat of leotards.
“Little girl, I did not see the tight outfit as a big problem, said Sarah Voss (21) last April on her Instagram account. But when puberty started, when I got my period, I started to feel less and less comfortable ”. This choice, Elisabeth Seitz also justifies it by the profusion of pictures of young gymnast girls circulating on the Internet and attracting malicious glances.
Leg-covering outfits have always been permitted in international competitions, but to this day they have been worn almost exclusively for religious reasons.
“The others were looking at us with my teammates in this suit, both astonished and admiring, with their thumbs up.
Now, I hope that this will inspire those who do not feel comfortable with the traditional outfit, that they know that it is possible, and especially that it is elegant ”, specifies Sarah Voss who had initiated the slingshot four months ago at the European Championships in Basel (Switzerland).
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In Tokyo, these images are unsurprisingly highly commented on, and often greeted by certain foreign comrades.
"I think it's really cool that they have the courage to stand in such a huge arena and show girls all over the world that you can wear whatever you want," said the Norwegian gymnast, for example. Julie Erichsen.
"I applaud them for that".
"The body is evaluated but it should not be under the sexual prism"
In recent years, the #MeToo movement has raised deep questions among gymnasts. Queen Simone Biles herself has revealed that she was the victim of trainer Larry Nassar, the former US team doctor sentenced to 60 years in prison for child pornography. Last April, the superstar also chose to leave his overpowered sponsor Nike, to join Athleta, feminist brand of the American group Gap. In particular, she will develop a platform to encourage the voice of women in sport and society.
Carine Charlier, director of the high level in acrobatic gymnastics, has a "benevolent look" on the action of the Germans. “Me, I never had this feeling of exposing my body too much. But it's very good that everyone can choose individually, says the one who participated as an athlete in the 1992 Olympic Games. The fight against the sexualization of the body is a fight that we lead in the authorities. The body is evaluated, but it should not be under the sexual prism. For example, we would ban plunging necklines ”. Contacted by the Parisian, the International Gymnastics Federation did not respond to our requests.
The issue of women's outfits remains subject to strong differences in the world of sport. A week ago, the beach handball players of the Norwegian team were penalized for wearing shorts instead of a bikini. The way is still long...