Slender, very elegant girls who gracefully jump across the floor in short suits – some gymnasts like Sarah Voss want to break this stereotype. And set an example with a suit: for the protection of underage gymnasts and against sexualization.
Sarah Voss originally comes from Frankfurt and is now, at the age of 21, competing as an artistic gymnast in competitions all over the world – currently at the Olympic Games in Tokyo. The German gymnasts around Voss made a name for themselves around the world, not least with their choice of clothes – and attracted much more attention than the entire team would have expected. Today media such as the BBC or the Washington Post report on her; we spoke to her in May.
Ms. Voss, your appearance at the European Gymnastics Championships in Basel caused quite a stir, and that because of a suit. Would you have expected that?
Sarah Voss: We have already prepared for a reaction, but of course I did not think this enormous extent was possible. I would rather have thought that the interest in the gymnastics world would be greater, but it has shown that this is simply a current and important topic that is important for all age groups, including all genders.
On social media in particular, many people were thrilled that they wore a long suit, although this is rather unusual in gymnastics. Most of them had nothing to do with gymnastics.
That’s correct!
Was that encouraging or was that strange?
So I have to say that I was surprised how many people talked about it. All age groups and genders, including many men, have said that they are happy that we women represent ourselves in such a self-determined manner. But also that they think it’s a shame that some people who watch the sport have other intentions and that we feel uncomfortable as a result. Women and young girls also emailed me who had already stopped doing gymnastics. They wrote to me that they would have liked to have had such an option and would have been happy if it had been possible earlier. That’s why they thought it was great that we wore this long suit and demonstrated that everyone can wear it, regardless of whether it is competitive or popular sport. So everyone can determine what he or she wants to wear and how he or she wants to look.
Does the subject of self-determination perhaps pick up on a very strong zeitgeist?
I think so. Sometimes more was interpreted into it than we wanted to say with this suit. However, I have the feeling that the more positive feedback we get, the more people feel empowered.
To what extent was more interpreted into it?
Our main concern was to be a role model for younger athletes. I have often been told that there were many female athletes who stopped or did not even start because of the dress code or the fact that they were not always 100 percent comfortable. And above all, we wanted to show these girls that there is a way to wear different suits and that you don’t have to be ashamed of it. Of course, this was also taken up negatively by saying that athletes who had done this beforehand for religious reasons, for example, would not have received as much approval as we did. But we had no intention of annoying others with it.
Actually, you already had the choice to wear a long suit beforehand. Why didn’t anyone do that?
Exactly, since 2012 it has been allowed to wear matching trousers with a short suit. But it wasn’t explicitly stated that you can wear a long suit, we brought that into being.
So you could only wear a short suit before 2012?
Yes, that was common before.
Do you know why that was? Because it doesn’t really change the way you perform the exercises, whether you wear a short or a long suit, does it?
Wearing the full body suit is neither an advantage nor a disadvantage. Of course, some have said on the Internet that if you were to wear a suit with black legs, because of the black background, for example at the European Championships, that would hide mistakes – that was not the case. We had discussed this with the judges beforehand. What I think is that it just wasn’t present enough before. You already knew that such suits were allowed for religious reasons, for example, but you simply connected it to religion and not said for yourself that it was an option for everyone. That’s why we wanted to set an example with the long suits: This option is available to everyone, everyone can decide freely. We also wanted to encourage more people who might not feel comfortable in the short suits or would like an alternative.
The long suit was widely seen in the media as a sign against sexualization, also as a sign of more self-determination. Was that also meant like that?
After training, I’m used to wearing longer pants on our short suits. However, it was a different situation under competition conditions. I had a good feeling about it, I felt elegant. Even when doing gymnastics, I wasn’t afraid that something could slip, which cannot always be avoided with a short suit. Still, I wouldn’t allow myself to be restricted to this type of suit in the future. Because there is also the self-determination to make the right suit dependent on my feelings for future competitions.
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As a young gymnast in particular, it’s normal to wear a short suit. When did it start that you felt uncomfortable in it?
When I was young, I worried about anything but how I looked. In competition it was just common to wear a short suit. What I noticed at some point, especially with the older girls, was that they left their pants on. And when I got into the situation myself, developed myself further, got my days, there were of course factors that don’t always give you the best feeling in competitive sport. You’re not necessarily in top form during your period anyway, and you don’t feel that great. At the training camp, however, we often trained in short suits to prepare for the competitions. One athlete also said that she would like to wear trousers during training so that she doesn’t have to think about whether the suit fits properly. Also so as not to be exposed. Of course, this is not a bad intention, but you still feel watched and could counteract this with pants.
You read or hear several times that gymnasts in particular were repeatedly attacked, gymnastics is also a sport with more physical contact than, for example, soccer. Were there situations in the past for you that have encouraged your choice of clothes?
Personally, I haven’t had such experiences and I’m very happy about that. But of course I can’t speak for all athletes. Perhaps the long suit would be a way for younger athletes to be able to wear these long leotards up to a certain age, for example, simply to protect the children and so that the parents might feel more secure. But even there you have to unfortunately say that if someone has a certain intention, of course, a long suit won’t do anything either. A lot more has to happen in other areas: That you train coaches, make sure that the gymnasts grow up in a good environment and that they feel comfortable during training.
Where did this uncertainty come from when it is actually allowed? Were you afraid of being rated worse beforehand?
No, it wasn’t the rating. We knew that the regulations allowed it. It was more the question: How is that generally received? In the gymnastics circle they were used to this one type of suit and no other. And we weren’t sure if people found it ridiculous how general the response is. We couldn’t assess that. We only knew from our German team that some of them disagreed and don’t want to wear the long suit, everyone is free to do so. And internationally we couldn’t even assess what was in store for us.
How was the response from the gymnasts?
Personally, a lot of girls and trainers came to me and found the suit very beautiful. The aesthetic aspect was particularly emphasized. But they also asked how we were feeling if the suit was bothering us. Some have said that they might even want to wear a long suit themselves.
Would you also like to wear a long suit at the Olympic Games?
We keep both options open. We will of course compete as a team, but also hopefully on individual devices and for that we want to keep both open.
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
