WAG Unitard in competition

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I think I’m with @tucktwisttumble. I think it will hide the body lines and mask some imperfections. And I can’t imagine how distracting it would be if they fully bling out the legs. I’m ok with shorts, but I find this a little much.

So what about people who prefer to wear long pants? Do they get a deduction or are they banned from competing?
 
Thank you for saying so. The gymnast above may also be wearing a unitard for this reason and it feels disrespectful for people to be criticizing it.

I don't think it's disrespectful to criticize the design of the unitard as long as you are not criticizing the general concept of a unitard. The modesty and fashion aspects are separate.
 
I like the bling even less on a full-length unitard than on a leotard, just because there's more of it on the unitard. Why can't they wear leotards or unitards that look like athletic uniforms instead of circus costumes? Also, for modesty I think a leo with separate leggings (either over or under the leo) works much better than a unitard.

The fact that the color change from black to white occurs just below the knee makes me think this outfit would be ideally suited to camouflage bent knees. It made me think of marching band uniforms. If you want to hide kids who are out of phase or unevenly spaced, you put the band in plain black pants and black shoes. If you're confident that they can all stay on the beat and maintain their spacing, you put them in black pants with a white stripe down the side and white shoes to show off their precision.

My own children feel like their competition leotard is a circus costume with all the bling and would much rather have a simple leo. But I just never see them at competitions. I wish it were more common in the US.
 
I wanted to clarify that I am not disrespecting the athlete in question or the leo.
I am happy the option is available to the girls.

It is my personal preference that i like the look of a long-sleeved competition leotard - but agree that it shouldn't be the only option.
 
The fact that the color change from black to white occurs just below the knee makes me think this outfit would be ideally suited to camouflage bent knees. It made me think of marching band uniforms. If you want to hide kids who are out of phase or unevenly spaced, you put the band in plain black pants and black shoes. If you're confident that they can all stay on the beat and maintain their spacing, you put them in black pants with a white stripe down the side and white shoes to show off their precision.

This is an interesting point! I never thought about that with marching band but it makes sense.

Personally, I'm not a huge fan of the full length body suit, but like someone mentioned above, it's really a matter of what you're used to. I remember as a little girl being so disappointed when Debi Thomas skated in the Olympics in a body suit. I had grown accustomed to the fairy princess type costumes and the body suit just didn't fit in that mold. So I'm aware that my initial reaction may be due more to expectations of what a gymnastics leotard "should" look like.

And I also don't think that having an opinion about a body suit is disrespecting those that wear them for religious or other reasons. Like others, I think the option should be available.
 
It's funny to me that people think that the full length bodysuit masks or hides execution of elements or bent knees. Take some time to watch some high level Acro. There's no mistaking those athletes abilities or precision, regardless of what they wear.

The artistry is what separates gymnastics (and ice skating) apart from other sports. The options for leotards, from fabric type to bling, is an expression of that.
 
It's funny to me that people think that the full length bodysuit masks or hides execution of elements or bent knees. Take some time to watch some high level Acro. There's no mistaking those athletes abilities or precision, regardless of what they wear.

If one athlete has bare legs or solid-colored leggings and another has a unitard with spangled ankles, the judges are naturally going to notice the first athlete's knees more because their eyes will be drawn to the second athlete's ankles.
 
If one athlete has bare legs or solid-colored leggings and another has a unitard with spangled ankles, the judges are naturally going to notice the first athlete's knees more because their eyes will be drawn to the second athlete's ankles.

Only if they're poorly trained judges. Because what you're saying is that judges are so unable to focus on their jobs that the mere presence of sequins or rhinestones is going to limit their ability to focus. Having judged dance competitions, I can tell you this is entirely not the case.
 
Only if they're poorly trained judges. Because what you're saying is that judges are so unable to focus on their jobs that the mere presence of sequins or rhinestones is going to limit their ability to focus. Having judged dance competitions, I can tell you this is entirely not the case.

I just think it is naive to assume that judges are robots who won't even momentarily follow the natural human inclination to look at the showiest part of the costume. If judges really are capable of blocking out everything they see other than the specific details they are supposed to be looking for, then why do we mess with blingy leotards and fancy hairstyles and why do we tell our kids to smile? Either details outside the text of the routine and the COP matter, or they don't.
 
I just think it is naive to assume that judges are robots who won't even momentarily follow the natural human inclination to look at the showiest part of the costume. If judges really are capable of blocking out everything they see other than the specific details they are supposed to be looking for, then why do we mess with blingy leotards and fancy hairstyles and why do we tell our kids to smile? Either details outside the text of the routine and the COP matter, or they don't.

They matter for the overall artistic aesthetic of the routine - so for floor for artistic gymnastics, or everything for Acro. Presentation matters. But not as a distraction from the skills. We don't tell our kids to smile so the judges won't notice they bend their arms on their kip or don't go fully down into the splits. We tell them to smile because it's the overall presentation of the routine that matters too.
 
The men's judges find a way to deduct for bent knees and lines on pommel, HB, rings and Pbars, and the guys are practically wearing pajama pants. I think the women's judges will manage.

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Thank you for saying so. The gymnast above may also be wearing a unitard for this reason and it feels disrespectful for people to be criticizing it.

I looked up Marina Nekrasova and she's worn a regular leotard for competition before (as recently as last year as seen here: ). So unless her beliefs have recently changed, it's not for religious reasons.
 
I looked up Marina Nekrasova and she's worn a regular leotard for competition before (as recently as last year as seen here: ). So unless her beliefs have recently changed, it's not for religious reasons.

Perhaps she is wanting to represent the girls and women of her country who would desire to wear this to participate in the sport. Inspire the little girls of her nation that they can do gymnastics too even if they are not comfortable showing their entire legs up to their hip bone.
 
Perhaps she is wanting to represent the girls and women of her country who would desire to wear this to participate in the sport. Inspire the little girls of her nation that they can do gymnastics too even if they are not comfortable showing their entire legs up to their hip bone.

Do we think she chose her own competition outfit, or was it chosen for her?
 
The men's judges find a way to deduct for bent knees and lines on pommel, HB, rings and Pbars, and the guys are practically wearing pajama pants. I think the women's judges will manage.

Yes, but the guys are all wearing basically the same pants. Except that some are wearing socks that match their pants, whereas some are wearing white socks that presumably draw attention to whether the feet are pointed.
 
Do we think she chose her own competition outfit, or was it chosen for her?
She wore a traditional leotard on other events at this same competition, so I would assume it was her choice. If her governing body or nation were wanting her to do it I would assume they would want her wearing it everywhere. Perhaps she is testing the waters on floor where people would more expect it with similar uniforms used in rhythmic and acro.
 

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