At the Paris Olympics, several Japanese women’s volleyball, athletics and table tennis teams will compete in outfits using innovative technology, designed to avoid suggestive photos. Developed by the Japanese equipment manufacturer Mizuno, the fabric counters a voyeuristic strategy: shooting using infrared to highlight the underwear, even the shapes of the athletes. These images circulate on the Internet and can give rise to online harassment of athletes.
Mizuno development team member Kazuya Tajima hopes that “the use by high-level athletes of this fabric will raise awareness in society that voyeurism is unacceptable”. The decision to work on this fabric was taken by the equipment manufacturer while “Cameras are becoming more and more sophisticated. Using infrared for photographs reveals underwear and bodies beneath swimsuits and shorts”.
Made in collaboration with manufacturers Sumitomo Metal Mining and Kyodo Printing, the new fabric incorporates materials that absorb light in the infrared range. Mei Kodama, 25, who participated in the 4×100 meters at the Tokyo Games in 2021, tested an outfit made from this new material and found it “more comfortable than[’elle] thought so[t] ».
This development coincides with a strengthening of the fight against more or less explicit photos of sportswomen, which can have serious consequences for the victims. Reiko Shiota, from the badminton team competing in the Beijing (2008) and London (2012) Games, saw photos of her chest or lower body widely distributed on the Internet. The presence of cameras disturbed her during matches even though she always “tried to ignore the sound of camera shutters pointed at my chest or butt”.
“Psychological burden”
Airi Hatakeyama, Japan’s representative in rhythmic gymnastics at the London (2012) and Rio (2016) Games, “was shocked to find that some people [la] sexualized » by suggestive photos, while she was still a minor. However, the gymnastics federation has banned photos during competitions since 2004 and mobilizes staff to identify possible offenders.
“Voyeurism is a despicable act that places a psychological burden on athletes. It is essential to create an environment that protects them”underlines Norihide Ishido, specialist in sports policies at Chukyo University.
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