by SUE TIBBALLS
Katherine Grainger and Anna Watkins of Great Britain celebrate with their gold medals for the Women’s Double Sculls final on Day 7 of the London 2012 Olympic Games, August 3, 2012. PHOTO/Getty Images
This year’s Olympics have the potential to be the best ever for women’s sport, with more female competitors, more events and more medals up for grabs than ever before. British women have been doing amazingly well, with two gold medals already for women in the rowing. However, looking at some of the media coverage, you’d be forgiven for thinking that women are only competing in one sport – Beach Volleyball. The debate around the Olympics has descended in some quarters as to whether Prince Harry has been ogling girls in bikinis or not this fortnight. Accompanied by the requisite pictures, of course.
For the team, the issue of costume has defined the way their sport has been reported over the years. Team GB Olympic hopefuls Shauna Mullin and Zara Dampney have both complained about the fact that the sport is overshadowed by an obsession with what they are wearing and said their family and friends hated the fact that they were recognised only for wearing bikinis. ‘They find it really upsetting,’ Mullin said. ‘They say to me, “How can they still be talking about your bikinis? Don’t they understand how hard you work?”.
And it’s not just beach volleyball, Olympic silver medallist Gail Emms recently said she wanted to transform the profile of sportswomen, so they’re not obliged to wear skimpy outfits to make a living. Gail calls the experience of dealing with sponsors horrible: “I had sponsors telling me to wear fake tan and a tight kit. But you can’t be like, ‘No, I don’t believe in that’ when you have a mortgage to pay. I know I got those sponsors because I was blond. But I had to play their game if I wanted to make a living.”
The Independent for more