Paris 2024 Olympics: “concerning”, “patriarchal force”… what is this controversy surrounding the outfits of American athletes ?

La tenue féminine de l'équipe d'athlétisme américaine pour les Jeux Olympique a fait vivement réagir. Capture

The presentation this Thursday, April 11, of Nike's American athletes' outfits for the Paris Olympics sparked a wave of criticism and sparked a real controversy. In question, the feminine outfit, considered too low-cut.

By presenting the official outfits of American athletes this Thursday, April 11, the equipment manufacturer Nike attracted the wrath of part of the sports community. In question, very tight bikini bottoms particularly cut out at the crotch, presented as the women's outfit when the men's outfit appears much more covering. Sometimes judged to be sexist, sometimes unsuitable for practice… Very quickly the criticisms were legion.

"Constant vigilance of the pubis"

Former American 5000m champion Lauren Fleshman, very popular on social networks (80,000 subscribers on Instagram) shared the outfit accompanied by a long post in which she believes that "professional athletes should be able to compete without devoting brain space to constant pubic vigilance or gymnastics mentality of exposing every vulnerable part of your body".

She adds that this outfit is a"costume born from patriarchal forces that are no longer welcome or necessary to bring attention to women's sports".

Many outfits offered to athletes

Pole vault champion Katie Moon also commented on the outfit in a lengthy post on Instagram, in which she judged it first "concerning&quot ;. "I want to be clear and start by saying that what was shown on the mannequin was concerning and warranted the response that&rsquo ;he received", she writes, before adding that a wide choice is offered to athletes, who can also wear the men's outfit if they prefer.

An argument also put forward by the American Athletics Federation (USATF) which recalled this Sunday, April 14 that American athletes will have multiple choices of outfits. "The American outfits revealed Thursday are just two choices among the multiple options offered to athletes, 50 unique pieces, for the Olympic Games", writes USATF in a press release sent to AFP.