Female gymnasts representing Germany at the Tokyo Olympics showed off their full-length unitards in a bid to take a stand against the sexualization of their sport.
On Thursday, July 22, Elisabeth Seitz, Kim Bui, Pauline Schaefer, and Sarah Voss gave us all a glimpse of their new pink and black outfits, which they wore during practice.
The look was a noticeable departure from the leg-baring leotards typically worn by gymnasts at sporting competitions.
Sharing two photos of the team's new competition gear on Instagram, Schaefer wrote: "Our podium training went really well. We were able to call up our performance and introduce ourselves to the judges.
"Fine-tuning will be done again until Sunday and then it will finally start. How do you like our new outfit?"
Bui posted the same two photos on her Instagram account, this time with the caption: "Nice arena, good podium training, beautiful unitards, and a lot of joy."
Team Germany has actually been donning unitards since spring. According to the German Gymnastics Federation, the switch to full-length outfits is a statement against "sexualization in gymnastics", per BBC News.
Back in April, Bui wrote in an Instagram post that the team wants to "encourage all gymnasts around the world to be able to wear this if they want to feel better! It should be a gymnast’s choice to wear what’s she (or he) feels comfortable with! Long legs leotards can also look aesthetically pleasing!"
Per BBC News, Voss opened up about the move to local news outlets, saying: "We hope gymnasts uncomfortable in the usual outfits will feel emboldened to follow our example.
"We, women, all want to feel good in our skin. In the sport of gymnastics, it gets harder and harder as you grow out of your child’s body. As a little girl, I didn’t see the tight gym outfits as such a big deal. But when puberty began, when my period came, I began feeling increasingly uncomfortable."
According to the above publication, the new outfits are perfectly in line with official rules and regulations, which allow competitors in the sport to wear a "one-piece leotard with full-length legs - hip to ankle".
This comes after Norway's women's handball team was hit with a fine of more than €1,000 after they defied the rules by wearing shorts rather than bikini bottoms at the European Championships.
