Too hot for sport?

Too hot for sport?

Ho Lian-Yi Tue, Aug 26, 2008 The New Paper

ATHLETES competed in the nude during the ancient Olympics. They no longer do, but there is still plenty of flesh on display.

At the current Games in Beijing, there is no shortage of athletes wearing shorts so tiny, they are nearly thongs.

As fashion writer Guy Trebay wrote in The New York Times, 'a viewer is permitted and even encouraged to ogle an ongoing parade of muscled and lithe and rippling and toned and occasionally highly perplexing bodies'.

But not everybody sees this as a good thing, especially when there are young eyes involved.

Cheerleaders at the volleyball matches

One parent, Mrs SK Grewal, 49, a civil servant, said it made her uncomfortable when the shorts are 'extra short', especially if she is watching with her children or her mother. She mused that it seemed like it made no difference to the sport- it all seemed to involve tiny spandex outfits.

Another viewer, Madam Amy Chong, 37, a manager, said some of the athletes left hardly anything to the imagination.

Better performance?

Is wearing as little on your body as possible really tied to performance?

At first glance, yes. Even for the ancient Greeks, legend has it that the early Olympians shed their shorts because when one competitor did it, he won his race. Everyone else followed suit. Eventually, it became the rule.

Ms Christina Tay, chief executive of the Singapore Athletics Association (SAA), said athletes choose clothes that are comfortable and light, easy to wear, or specially crafted. Whether it is tight-fitting or skimpy has nothing to do with it.

But everyone also wants to look good - which may enhance self-esteem and maybe lead to improved performance, she said.

Mr Marcus Chew, Adidas Singapore's marketing manager, said: 'These days, our athletes don't just look good but are more energy efficient, resulting in better performance no matter what sport they engage in.'

But is performance the only factor that determines what clothes Olympians wear - or don't?

Why, for example, are women in beach volleyball mandated to wear bikini bottoms that have 7cm-waistbands, but not the men?

Sexy money

See the case of table tennis, which, despite its popularity in China, still saw half-empty stands in the Beijing Olympics.

Croatia's Blanka Vlasic at the Women's High Jump final

The proposed solution? More 'curves'.

Unlike tennis, which boasts short skirts and icons such as Maria Sharapova, who are renowned as much for their skill as their beauty, table-tennis women players wear baggy shorts.

International Table Tennis Federation vice president Claude Bergeret told Reuters: 'We are trying to push the players to use skirts and also nicer shirts, not the shirts that are made for men, but ones with more curves.'

Sex sells.

What athletes wear in front of billions of viewers is worth a great deal of money.

'The biggest fashion show in the world', one Canadian designer had called the Olympics.

Nike and Adidas is going head-to-head for China - both brands' second-largest market after the US.

Looks count. Why else is Stella McCartney designing sportswear for Adidas?

There is, of course, also individual charm.

Sexy Russian pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva, who broke her own world record last Monday, had said: 'Being glamorous is important to me. I don't agree that you are either a sportswoman or a girl.'

Paraguayan javelin thrower Leryn Franco, 26, finished almost last in qualifying, but the bikini model and Miss Paraguay runner-up has captured male hearts (and lots of newsprint space) with her stunning looks.

She is also posing topless for a calendar.

The public and media love good-looking athletes, and some do bank on it.

Ms Tay of SAA said: 'Most athletes, due to the many punishing hours of hardcore training, have developed a beautifully crafted physique and, for some, they are more than happy to flaunt it.'

Perhaps the Olympics is, as one viewer put it, 'innately sexy'. Ms Dahlia Amin, 26, said: 'An athlete's body has always been the pinnacle of what the human body is capable of.'

This article was first published in The New Paper on Aug 24, 2008.