Nike’s Skimpy Team USA Outfits Reignite Convo Around Women’s Uniforms

After the flashy jumpsuit was revealed, athletes joked that they would definitely need a thorough wax to wear the women’s piece. On the model, at least, the sides of the crotch were fully visible. Others wondered if it was even possible to wear this outfit while running, jumping, or hurdling without risking a major wardrobe malfunction.

Some track and field athletes defended their outfits. Olympic long jumper Tara Davis-Woodhall said the outfit looked “beautiful” in person at a media gathering of Olympic and Paralympic athletes on Tuesday, according to the Washington Post.

Nike, which designed the suit and presented it among dozens of other design kits at an event Thursday in Paris, defended itself, emphasizing that the bodysuit was just one uniform iteration on almost 50. There were shorts options as well.

Jordana Katcher, Nike’s vice president of global sportswear, also told the Post that several female athletes have specifically requested the suit.

Nike did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

Queen Harrison-Claye, a sprinter and hurdler – who competed in the 2008 Summer Olympics – took the more humorous route when she asked a new company to sponsor the upcoming games.

“Hello @europeanwax, would you like to sponsor Team USA for the next Olympic Games!? Please and thank you,” she wrote in a comment on Instagram.

Harrison-Claye told Business Insider in an interview that this lighthearted approach was just a reflection of how she interpreted the campaign. In her opinion, sexism was at play in Nike’s decision to display the tiny bodysuit – but she says there are two sides to every story.

“Why are we holding up this sexualized outfit as the gold standard?

For Harrison-Claye, the cut of the controversial uniform “didn’t make sense athletically, or even aesthetically,” but that didn’t mean Nike had to completely abandon the idea of ​​having different options.

“The beauty of athletics and women is that we are not a monolith,” Harrison-Claye said. “For some women, they may see that and be like, ‘Oh, I’ll feel so cool and I’ll feel sexy,’ and they’re allowed to feel like themselves… and then there’ll be a lot of female athletes who say, ‘Oh no, this fit is too small.'”

Other athletes, like Lauren Fleshman, a retired runner and author of “Good for a Girl: A Woman Running in a Man’s World,” told the New York Times that she took issue with the fact that the company chose to feature preview the revealing costume for women. next to the concealed men’s suit – instead of displaying two similar suits.

“Why are we holding up this sexualized outfit as the gold standard?” » Fleshman told the outlet. “Partly because we believe that’s what brings us the most financial gain through sponsorships or NIL opportunities, most of which are provided by powerful men or people who look at things through a male gaze.”

Harrison-Claye shared a similar sentiment.

“There’s always this feeling that our value lies in our bodies rather than how our bodies perform,” she said.

A broken record

Women are being honored in sport like never before. Athletes like Naomi Osaka and Sha’Carri Richardson are megastars with millions of fans.

More recently, there has been so much hype surrounding women’s college basketball stars Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark.

Harrison-Claye acknowledges that sports have come a long way to fairly represent women, but that inequality is still there – she cited the wage gap in athletics as an example.

She also pointed out that for black women, the problems are magnified. Black female athletes are often hypersexualized or portrayed as angry or mean. A recent example of this is Reese being called a villain by sports analyst Emmanuel Acho after the rising basketball star responded to racist and sexist attacks from viewers.

Skimpy outfits in women’s sports have become a hot topic in recent years. More and more athletes are loudly wondering why their uniforms are so different from those of men.

Female athletes in sports like gymnastics, volleyball, and track and field are sometimes expected to wear bikini bottoms or short leotards. There’s no technical reason why the difference exists – although some women, like track and field athlete Katie Moon, who said she wore a bodysuit similar to Nike’s controversial one at previous Olympics , say that more revealing outfits work best. her.

“Women’s outfits should support performance, mentally and physically. If this outfit truly supported physical performance, men would wear it,” Fleshman wrote on Instagram.

And that’s a big part of why female athletes are pushing back.

In 2021, the Norwegian women’s beach handball team was fined $1,760 for refusing to wear bikini bottoms during the European Championships. Their decision prompted the International Handball Federation to change its rules and allow women to wear tank tops and cycling shorts.

That same year, the German Olympic gymnastics team decided to show up at the Tokyo Olympics in ankle-length black bodysuits, similar to men’s styles. The outfits were not against the rules, but the team said they intentionally chose to wear long leotards to protest the sexualization of gymnasts.

Harrison-Claye said she wanted to help the next generation of women feel confident in being their “authentic” selves on the track. She stressed that women should choose to wear whatever they want when playing and is in the process of founding a social club to inspire young female athletes.

“All we can do in this generation is continue to cultivate it for the next,” she said.