The way Sports dress wave is changing. Can the Olympics keep up?

On July 25, German ice hockey star Nike Lorenz took the field at the Tokyo Olympics wearing what at first glance looked like standard attir

e: a white tank top, a sports skirt and a pair of shoes with rubber soles for extra grip. But while her teammates wore knee-high white socks with stripes in the colors of the German flag. Lorenz wore a rainbow ribbon. Not everyone may have noticed, but Lorenz’s subtle statement in support of + rights was the result of weeks of speculation and whining from the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the organization that oversees the Games. In the end, they decided to revise their infamous Rule 50, which allowed athletes to express themselves politically on the field, although it still seemed vague, essentially giving Lorenz permission to carry the rule.

The IOC Olympic

Charter has been the subject of intense criticism

for decades due to its unclear and often frustratingly vague guidelines. The rules were first published in 1908 and are clearly out of date. But few have sparked as heated a debate as Rule 50, which states:

“No form of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda shall be permitted in any Olympic venue, venue or other venue prior to this year’s Games.” the rule became even more heated when the IOC released a statement in April saying slogans like “Black Lives Matter” would not be allowed on Sports dress wave while words like “peace,” respect, solidarity, inclusion and equality would be.

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Despite the long history of activism in competitive sports, it has gained even more momentum in recent years – a shift perhaps most noticeable in the US as social media has raised awareness of black deaths at the hands of police leading to protests. Boycotts and a political firestorm over athletes kneeling during the national anthem. Even at the Olympic Games, demonstrations are anything but new.

One of the most impressive examples was the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico, when American runners John Carlos and Tommie Smith won after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. Earlier this year, they raised their gloved fists in a Black Power salute. (Before the IOC could even act, the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) suspended the athletes from the Games and sent them home within days.)

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People shoes clothes shoes and clothes

American sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised their fists in the Black Power salute on the podium during the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City. Photo: Getty Images

What makes clothing such an effective means of protest in sport? , associate professor of political science at Pacific University in Oregon, to the four have written books on the relationship between the Olympics and political activism “Clothing that resonates with politics can be an effective way to quickly reach many people with a strong message of justice.”

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As Boykoff points out, clothing can be an important tool

for expressing one’s faith during their brief time in the spotlight, as athletes are often seen rather than heard in moments of triumph. While Naomi Osaka’s comments on social media and in interviews about the Black Lives Matter movement went largely unnoticed in the press, she created a bit of a media frenzy when she paid tribute to the victims of police brutality by writing their names on her face masks. worn at the US Open last year.

“I know about tennis

“The film has been seen around the world,

and maybe there’s someone out there who doesn’t know the story of Breonna Taylor,” Osaka told reporters at the time. “They might be checking or something. “For me, it’s just about spreading awareness.”

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Naomi Osaka wears a face mask with the name of George Floyd on day nine of the 2020 US Open

When it was announced in April that “Black Lives Matter” slogans would be banned from the Olympics, it felt like a particularly egregious and quixotic decision, which even drew the ire of Benjamin Crump, a civil rights attorney.

who went by the nickname “Attorney General” goes by Black America after representing the families of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, as well as those poisoned during the Flint water crisis.

When Crump read the news, especially the mix of “Black Lives Matter” printed clothing and political speeches, he was disappointed but not surprised.

“This is a declaration that we deserve the right to live on this earth and not be killed on because of our skin color.

For the Olympic Committee to confuse this with political speech means they are way behind and on the wrong side of a humanitarian statement, and I thought the main reason for the Olympics was to celebrate our shared humanitarian convictions.

“Clothes are important because you can’t talk when you’re running, shooting a basketball or throwing a javelin,” he continues. “People identify easily with what you’re wearing, what’s on your shirt, what’s on your tennis shoes. And so those statements become profound when a young person is trying to find their voice and spread awareness.”

German gymnast Pauline SchaeferBetz will compete in a unitard at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.nbsp

German gymnast Pauline Schaefer-Betz competes in a unitard at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.

In addition to the suppression of black voices,

many of the most controversial decisions made by

the IOC and various national sports federations around the world ahead of this year’s Olympics have disproportionately affected women, and especially women of color.

There has been a backlash against the short-sighted decision by FINA, the world’s governing body for aquatics, to ban the wearing of swimming caps specifically for black hair, a rule that remained in place during this year’s Olympics.

“Today, athletes are often caught up in movements for justice around the world. At least in my opinion, the rule of thumb is that when there are vibrant social movements in the streets, moments of sports activism are more likely to occur. At the Olympics, movements create space for these moments.

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Gwen Berry wears her “Activist Athlete” jersey as she celebrates third place in the women’s hammer throw final at the 2020 US Olympic Track and Field Team Trials in Eugene, Oregon. Photo: Getty Images

But looking back at this year’s Games, it’s hard not to feel that many potential examples of activism through clothing were stifled due to IOC restrictions. In April, the organization issued a statement saying it had interviewed 3,500 athletes ahead of the Games.

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