Sport appeal, not sex appeal. That was the message of the IOC at the start of Tokyo 2020, proudly detailed in their “portrayal guidelines” for gender-equal representation in sport.
The guidelines advise: “Avoid passive, sexy imagery of sportspeople which reinforces stereotypes . . . Do not focus unnecessarily on looks, clothing or intimate body parts (eg crotch shots, cleavage, backsides), especially if it does not relate to an athlete’s performance.”
At the beach volleyball final yesterday, when the United States smashed sensational aces across the net to take gold over Australia, the photographers rather had their work cut out for them. There would not be many photos of the sporting action here if backsides were banned from the frame.
The bikinis worn by most of the players have become a lightning rod for debate, after the Norwegian beach handball team protested last month against the outfits, receiving fines of €150 (about £127) each for breaching their federation’s regulations. The popstar Pink offered to pay the “sexist” fines.
The debate crossed over to Tokyo, where it hit a nerve in track and field too, with Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill criticising the “knickers” that are common kit for women in athletics, writing in The Telegraph that she felt vulnerable when wearing them, and competed with the fear of a wardrobe malfunction.
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In gymnastics, the German team proudly performed in full-length bodysuits, as a protest against sexualisation in their sport.
Bikinis are not compulsory for beach volleyball athletes at the Games. Shorts are permitted, as are longer garments, which were chosen by some players at London 2012 because of the British weather. The majority of female athletes, however, still opt for a two-piece, including every player in the final yesterday. Asked in interviews to explain this, and to comment on the Norwegian row, many players have argued that it is not only a personal preference but a sporting advantage — that anything more sizeable or less skimpy would hamper their performance.
Sarah Pavan, playing in Tokyo for Canada, and Jennifer Kessy, a silver medallist from London 2012 and the coach to Team USA’s Alix Klineman and April Ross, the eventual champions at these Games, explained the chafing hazards of playing on sand — which can get caught in the longer material of shorts, for example — and the history of the sport, which started, naturally, on the beach.
Ross, who won her third Olympic medal in Tokyo and her first gold, said that, for her, it was the most comfortable option. “Sometimes wearing more clothing in really hot weather, getting sand stuck in places, is not fun,” she said.
The heat in Tokyo Bay yesterday certainly made the bikinis look like a more sensible option than any other outfit. As Ross and Klineman played their final in the midday sun, reportedly to cater to primetime American TV audiences 6,000 miles away, a neglected sign by the side of the path to the press seats warned passers-by that the temperature had reached a level that risked heat stroke. Organisers had already caved into pressure to move the football finals to a night-time kick-off, and, a few hours later, the women’s marathon would also be moved.
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There was no such relief for Ross and Klineman, who battled for glory against Mariafe Artacho del Solar and Taliqua Clancy of Australia, winning 21-15, 21-16. Their sporting achievements cut through the noise around their outfits; they will make the newspapers for their medals, not their bikinis. But there are still valid and problematic questions to be answered about the relationship between skimp and success. Even Ross herself has acknowledged that some fans are not tuning in, at least not initially, for the serves. “I have always felt like when you get somebody drawn in, however you get them in to beach volleyball, they fall in love with the sport,” she said. “So hopefully that happens also.”
They played in a primetime slot in front of millions of viewers, so whatever factors have contributed to their success thus far have obviously worked. Whether it is right that women’s sport must continue, in 2021, to trade off sex appeal to get a chance to show audiences its IOC-endorsed sport appeal is a debate that goes far beyond one sand court, or even one Olympics.
But the scrutiny on this sport is one that is unlikely to go away in a post-#MeToo, IOC-guidelines era. If athletes say that they are wearing the bikinis out of choice, that will satisfy many who feel uneasy at the spectacle, and, ultimately, the best possible outcome for every sport is to have athletes choosing the outfit that they feel the most comfortable and powerful in, to perform at their best.
But Ennis-Hill highlighted a vital nuance in this debate around choice in her column. It is hard to “choose” your kit, she wrote, when the vast majority wear one (very skimpy) thing. Particularly for young girls, this can be daunting, off-putting and exclusionary. We know that teenage girls, whose participation in sport is at record low numbers in the UK, have painfully low self-esteem and chronic issues around body image. It is hard to imagine them watching the Olympic final, with some of the most athletic female bodies in the world — an unattainable physical standard for most women — on display, and feeling that it is a place for them.
Ross said in the press conference after the final that she wanted to give back to the younger generation, to see participation in beach volleyball grow. She is indisputably an inspiring role model for any young athlete, a woman at the top of her game who has persevered, showcased peerless skill and triumphed. She should not and will not be defined by a bikini.
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The sport’s legacy, on the other hand, may well be.
