Wednesday April 21, 2021
“Good gymnastics is not great”
A suit as a symbol against sexualization
Sarah Voss does gymnastics in a full body suit at the EM in Basel – and is proud of it. The German gymnasts are concerned with a personal sense of well-being and a change in culture. Now they are hoping for imitators. It was also triggered by an abuse scandal in the USA.
Sarah Voss drew everyone’s attention. At the start of the European Gymnastics Championships in Basel, the 21-year-old presented herself in an elegant black full-body suit and set a signal: Germany’s gymnasts are fighting against sexualization in their sport. “As part of the German national gymnastics team, we are also a role model for many younger athletes and we would like to show them how they can present themselves aesthetically in a different form of clothing without feeling uncomfortable with certain elements,” said the World Cup – Seventh on the beam.
On Friday in the final of the all-around competition, Elisabeth Seitz and Kim Bui from Stuttgart also want to go on the podium with their self-designed and hand-tailored long gymnastics suits. Elisabeth Seitz recently criticized the fact that photos of her with suggestive motifs are published again and again. “They want to put the icing on the cake and present their suits there,” announced Sarah Voss.
Your competition experience in the long outfit was positive. “I’m proud that I can wear the suit today. I feel really good, it’s super comfortable. I think it looks cool,” said the German all-around champion. Tight, swimsuit-like suits are common, which can be seen as provocative by outsiders, but which offend some gymnasts’ feelings of shame. “You move a lot and don’t always feel 100 percent well,” said Voss.
She did not perceive criticism of her action, but agreed: “The Swedes, for example, got the thumbs up.” Triggered by the scandal surrounding the former US team doctor Larry Nassar, young athletes in the recent past had increasingly pointed out that their rather tight clothing was uncomfortable.
“Nice gymnastics doesn’t mean that you think it’s awesome”
The idea for this came up last summer. “Our culture change started some time ago,” reported head coach Ulla Koch. The reason was that an athlete came to her and said that she felt naked in the normal suit. A trainer has to react to that. “Our girls should feel good,” she said.
You’ve only seen a gymnast at a major event in a long time. “A lot of people don’t even know that we can do long gymnastics.” With their long suits, the German gymnasts have now borrowed the outfit in rhythmic gymnastics. Triggered by the scandal surrounding the former US team doctor Larry Nassar, young athletes in the recent past had increasingly pointed out that their rather tight clothing was uncomfortable.
Seitz recently complained in a SWR article that in women’s gymnastics the line between aesthetics and sexualization is crossed again and again. “People have to understand that beautiful gymnastics does not mean that you find it particularly awesome or that men find it very suggestive,” said the 2016 Olympic fourth in Rio de Janeiro on the uneven bars.
Every now and then she finds photos of herself on the Internet, “which I don’t like at all, precisely because my crotch was photographed”. It is difficult to have these images removed. If she sees such photos in newspapers, say something. “Gymnastics is far too beautiful to have to take such a picture,” said the 27-year-old.
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