German gymnasts bring bodysuits to Olympic competition to fight ‘sexualisation’ of athletes

Germany’s gymnastics team made a statement the minute they stepped out at the Olympics, with a radical costume shake-up.

Germany’s women’s gymnastics team made a statement the minute they stepped into the venue for Tokyo Olympic qualifying on Sunday, swapping leotards for full-length bodysuits.

Several German gymnasts debuted the one-piece outfits, which cover all of their legs and most of their arms, at the European championships.

And the Olympic team were wearing them in training at the Ariake Gymnastics Centre earlier this week, with three-time Olympian Elisabeth Seitz saying it was “about what feels comfortable”.

“We wanted to show that every woman, everybody, should decide what to wear,” she said after Friday’s training.

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(L-R) Sarah Voss, Pauline Schaefer-Betz, Elisabeth Seitz and Kim Bui of Team Germany. Picture: Jamie Squire/Getty Images

Elisabeth Seitz of Team Germany. Picture: Jamie Squire/Getty Images

The team said then that they would vote on whether to wear the unitards during Sunday’s qualifiers.

Appearing in the final session of the day, the team’s four athletes filed out onto the floor in the bodysuits, featuring bedazzled plum legs and a white upper portion.

In April, Seitz and teammates Sarah Voss and Kim Bui all wore the full coverage outfits.

Voss said on Friday the team had agreed as group with their coaches to start competing in the bodysuits.

Kim Bui of Team Germany competes on balance beam. Picture: Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images

Sarah Voss of Team Germany. Picture: Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

“We were used to being in just a leotard on beam, and some girls said they wanted to feel more comfortable in training,” added the 21-year-old, competing at her first Games.

“We are allowed to wear shorts (in training), so you don’t have the uncomfortable feeling of your leotard slipping when you have to do many routines a day.”

Team Germany pictured at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Picture: Picture: Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

The decision, which Seitz has described as “an important signal”, also comes against the backdrop of a series of abuse scandals that have rocked the world of gymnastics in recent years.

In the United States, former team doctor Larry Nassar was found guilty of sexually assaulting at least 265 identified victims over two decades, including star Simone Biles.

In Britain, accusations of abuse have made headlines while in Greece former gymnasts complained of having suffered decades of abuse “akin to torture” at the hands of one of their coaches.

Biles eyes

Nagornyy’s Russian ‘typhoon’ storms to gymnastics team gold

Nikita Nagornyy’s Russian team stormed past defending champions Japan and superpower China to claim the coveted men’s artistic gymnastics gold at the Tokyo Olympics on Monday with the last tumble on the floor.

The Russians turned the tables on Japan, who had pipped them to the title in Rio in 2016. China had to settle for bronze.

“Do you remember the news about the typhoon (Tropical Storm Nepartak) this morning? Well, the typhoon has happened, we took the medal, so don’t worry about the typhoon anymore,” Nagornyy smiled.

Nagornyy was joined by Artur Dalaloyan -- the 2018 world all-around champion who was miraculously competing after recovering from surgery on a severed Achilles tendon in April.

Also in the team winning Russia’s first men’s team gold since Atlanta in 1996 were David Belyavskiy and Denis Ablyazin.

And they swelled with pride on top of the podium as Tchaikovsky’s concerto No.1 filtered out through the sound system at the Ariake Gymnastics Centre. The Russian composer’s music was chosen to play the role of super sub, as Russia’s national anthem cannot be used because the country is under a doping suspension and its athletes are competing under a neutral banner.

The outcome of the first gold on offer at the gymnastics competition was in the balance right until the closing exercise.

China were within less than a point of the Rio silver medallists going into the sixth rotation, with Japan, the early pacesetters, on course for third.

David Belyavskiy, Nikita Nagornyy, Artur Dalaloyan and Denis Abliazin of Team ROC pose with the gold medal after winning the Men's Team Final on day three of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Picture: Jamie Squire/Getty Images

Hashimoto almost snatches Japan gold

But a brilliant last throw of the dice on the horizontal bar from Tokyo teenager Daiki Hashimoto, earning a high 15.100 points, propelled the Games’ hosts back into at least second.

With the temperature rising and pulses racing, Nagornyy chalked up his feet and hands and took to the floor to try to get the Russian Olympic Committee team over the line.

And the reigning world all-around champion pulled it off superbly, his score of 14.666 securing the ROC a memorable win.

“I just wanted them to publish the score as fast as possible,” Nagornyy said. “I was concerned that the judges might want to give the host country the medal. “I had planned three combinations, including one simpler programme and one with my named elements. I’d decided to go with the simpler programme, but there was a mistake before the end so we decided to adjust.” Ablyazin, winning his sixth Olympic medal, added: “We all know that we needed to do well on the floor. We knew that if we did we would have a medal, we just didn’t know which one.

“I was worried when I stepped out of bounds because the floor exercise is everything. We won by a tenth and that’s nothing.” They finished with a total of 262.500 points, with Japan on 262.397 and China on 261.894.

Britain finished fourth ahead of the United States, Switzerland and Ukraine, with Germany coming in last of the eight finalists.

Hashimoto and Nagornyy are due to meet again on Wednesday in the all-around competition after finishing first and second in qualifying.