Paralympic champion Olivia Breen revealed the many hurdles that women in sport continue to face
Last week, the double Paralympic world champion Olivia Breen shared a story of an incident at the English Athletics Championships. When she had just finished her long jump competition, a female official said “my sprint shorts were too short and inappropriate”, she wrote. “I was left speechless… they are specifically designed for competing in.” She has said she is planning to make an official complaint.
Over in Bulgaria, at the only Euros I am ready to talk about, the Norwegian women’s beach handball team were fined €1,500 (£1,285), or €150 a player, for “a case of improper clothing”. In this case of improper clothing, which sounds like a lost Murder She Wrote episode, the Norwegian women found that their shorts were not skimpy enough. The rules stated that they should have been wearing bikini bottoms “with a close fit and cut on an upward angle toward the top of the leg”, rather than the shorts they chose to compete in instead. The main stipulations for the men’s team are shorts 10cm above the kneecap and “not too baggy”.
