#Nike Track and Field

[coochiequeens]

I know this blog focuses on TIMs invading women’s sports and locker rooms but Saving Women’s Sports means more than that. Like calling out sexist bs when companies give men real clothes to compete in and women get basically underwear.

The Nike Air Innovation Summit in Paris on Thursday.Credit...Dominique Maitre/WWD, via Getty Images

By Vanessa Friedman April 12, 2024

Ever since the Norwegian women’s beach handball team turned the fact that they were required to wear teeny-tiny bikini bottoms for competition into a cause célèbre, a quiet revolution has been brewing throughout women’s sports. It’s one that questions received conventions about what female athletes do — or don’t — have to wear to perform at their very best.

It has touched women’s soccer (why white shorts?), gymnastics (why not a unitard rather than a leotard?), field hockey (why a low-cut tank top?) and many more, including running.

So it probably should not have come as a shock to Nike that when it offered a sneak peek of the Team U.S.A. track and field unies during a Nike Air event in Paris celebrating its Air technology on Thursday (which also included looks for other Olympic athletes, like Kenya’s track and field team, France’s basketball team and Korea’s break dancing delegation), they were met with some less-than-enthusiastic reactions.

See, the two uniforms Nike chose to single out on the mannequins included a men’s compression tank top and mid-thigh-length compression shorts and a woman’s bodysuit, cut notably high on the hip. It looked sort of like a sporty version of a 1980s workout leotard. As it was displayed, the bodysuit seemed as if it would demand some complicated intimate grooming.

Citius Mag, which focuses on running news, posted a photo of the uniforms on Instagram, and many of its followers were not amused.

“What man designed the woman’s cut?” wrote one.

“I hope U.S.A.T.F. is paying for the bikini waxes,” wrote another. So went most of the more than 1,900 comments.

The running comedian Laura Green posted an Instagram reel in which she pretended to be trying on the look (“We’re feeling pretty, um, breezy,” she said) and checking out the rest of the athlete’s kit bag, which turned out to include hair spray, lip gloss and a “hysterectomy kit,” so the women would not have to worry about periods.

When asked, Nike did not address the brouhaha directly, but according to John Hoke, the chief innovation officer, the woman’s bodysuit and the man’s shorts and top are only two of the options Nike will have for its Olympic runners. There are “nearly 50 unique pieces across men’s and women’s and a dozen competition styles fine-tuned for specific events,” Mr. Hoke said.

Sha’Carri Richardson

Women will be able to opt for compression shorts, a crop top or tank and a bodysuit with shorts rather than bikini bottoms. The full slate of looks was not on hand in Paris but more will be revealed next week at the U.S. Olympic Committee media summit in New York. The Paris reveal was meant to be a teaser.

Anna Cockrell.Credit...Dominique Maitre/WWD, via Getty Images

Mr. Hoke also pointed out that Nike consults with a large number of athletes at every stage of the uniform design. Its track and field roster includes Sha’Carri Richardson, who happened to be wearing the compression shorts during the Paris presentation, and Athing Mu. And there are certainly runners who like the high-cut brief. (The British Olympic sprinter Dina Asher-Smith, another Nike athlete, told The New York Times last summer that while she opts to run in briefs, she also leans toward a leotard style, rather than a two-piece.)

What Nike missed, however, was that in choosing those two looks as the primary preview for Team U.S.A., rather than, say, the matching shorts and tanks that will be also available, it shored up a longstanding inequity in sports — one that puts the body of a female athlete on display in a way it does not for the male athlete.

“Why are we presenting this sexualized outfit as the standard of excellence?” said Lauren Fleshman, a U.S. national champion distance runner and the author of “Good for a Girl.” “In part because we think that’s what nets us the most financial gain from sponsors or NIL opportunities, most of which are handed out by powerful men or people looking at it through a male gaze. But women are breaking records with ratings in sports where you don’t have to wear essentially a bathing suit to perform.”

The problem such imagery creates is twofold. When Nike chose to reveal the high-cut bodysuit as the first Olympics outfit, purposefully or not, the implication for anyone watching is that “this is what excellence looks like,” Ms. Fleshman said.

That perception filters down to young athletes and becomes the model girls think they have to adopt, often at a developmental stage when their relationships with their bodies are particularly fraught.

And more broadly, given the current political debate around adjudicating women’s bodies, it reinforces the idea that they are public property.

Still, Ms. Fleshman said, “I’m glad Nike put this image out as the crown jewel of Olympic Team design,” because it may act as the catalyst for another conversation that has been long overdue.

“If you showed this outfit to someone from the W.N.B.A. or women’s soccer, they would laugh in your face,” she said. “We shouldn’t have to normalize it for track and field anymore. Time’s up on that.”

[indeedgoodman]

[spndxjck2]

[toyastales]

Nike and Jacquemus collaborations have, from the beginning, both invigorated and celebrated the nuanced facets and ever-evolving dimensions of what it means to be a contemporary athlete. No exception, the Spring 2024 Nike x Jacquemus collection furthers the belief that sport isn't simply about performance, it is also an expansion of style and self.

https://toyastales.blogspot.com/2024/08/jacquemus-x-nike.html

[studentofthesport]

[camleecomics]

Sha'carri

[birosworld]

Corrida ColaboraGOV 2024

[downisupandupisdown]

Sha’Carri Richardson models NIKE's new track and field kit.

[brennacedria]

I just saw the track and field Olympics uniforms I keep hearing about and holy FUCK

Apparently there's a "shorts" option as well but wtf was Nike & the team officials ever thinking with this design???????

[indeedgoodman]

[lewisgreaves]

[goodstuffhappenedtoday]

It seemed like it should be an easy win for Des Moines Superintendent Ian Roberts to dust off his racing shoes and compete against a team of elementary schoolers.

The 47-year-old Guyanese runner's skills had taken him around the globe, after all, even competing in the 2000 Summer Olympic Games in Sydney.

"I showed up to the school, and I'm waiting there. And I saw the principal and teachers and they brought the entire school out to the track. And I'm thinking, 'oh,'" Roberts recalled with a laugh.

What was initially going to be a race between Roberts and Everett Clark, a lucky second-grader who won the chance to race Roberts in a raffle, had grown as more students decided to join. Soon the student body flanked the track.

Roberts keeps himself in shape, running several miles, five to six days a week. Before the race, he ran drills with the students, teaching them how to stretch and showing them proper running form.

The day of the event, Roberts was in a maroon three-piece suit and a matching pair of tennis shoes. Roeder said the suit might have been a handicap, but the sneakers should have covered the gap.

As Roberts, the superintendent, sheepishly put it: "I decided, you know, I can do this in my suit. Why not? So here I am in my suit and my bow tie and some Nike Air Force One tennis shoes, and I felt that would be sufficient."

Instead, when the 100 meter dash began, Roberts saw how committed the students were to the race – and his eventual loss was all but decided.

It was fifth-grader Amayah Vilmael who sailed to victory, crossing the finish line with her eyes straight ahead as her former Olympian competition trailed steps behind.

"All of those students, especially Amayah, who – based on her form, based on her stride length – she definitely has a really promising career in track and field if she so chooses," Roberts said.

The superintendent has had a chance to speak with the parents of Amayah and Everett, and he said both of them are overjoyed to have gotten to race the former track and field star.

"Everett, for example, yesterday and even today, he is still walking around the house talking about his race. Amayah is still on cloud nine because she beat an Olympian," Roberts said.

"I am humbled and I stand proud in defeat to elementary school students, all of whom have very promising careers academically and athletically. And I will do it all over again if I can."

[thyrceus]

oddly specific things that remind me of the children of the gods <3

children of ares: the click of a lighter, getting clothing caught on doorknobs and furniture edges, layered necklaces, beat up combat boots, brutal honesty, raucous laughter, chipped mugs, calloused hands, adrenaline rushes, tough exterior soft interior, meticulously polished armour and weapons

children of athena: grandfather clocks’ chimes, olive martinis, secret rooms behind bookshelves, “reading is sexy” tshirts, deserted museums, paper cuts, tea stains, intricately carved sword hilts, golden war helms, calculative gazes

children of apollo: whiskey-coloured eyes, chrysanthemum tea, badges/pins EVERYWHERE, dandelion fields, sandcastles, colourful bracelets, knowledge of music theory, perfect pitch, fireflies, band-aids with smiley faces, tie-dye shirts

children of artemis: metallic clothing, ripped jeans, dagger strapped to inside of thigh, gazing at the constellations, lumberjack plaid shirts, running barefoot underneath the moon, long braided hair (eg. katniss everdeen), sharp eyeliner and even sharper gazes, white platinum/silver jewellery, temporary tattoos, cd collection

children of hephaestus: worn-out headphones, crooked grins, cassette tapes, fireworks, drawers overflowing with tools, LEGO sets, neon signs, mismatched gears, bandaged thumbs (accidents happen sometimes & that’s okay), volcanic-like fury, being up-to-date with all technology-related news

children of iris: stained glass windows, skittles, bracelet beads, marshmallows, kaleidoscopes, cotton candy at carnivals, misty weather, coins at the bottom of fountains, bright eyeshadow, rainbow garlands, fogged-up windows with tiny drawings

children of aphrodite: polished sea glass, vintage avon perfume bottles, decorated handwritten letters, overflowing closets, femme fatale energy, sofia coppola archive, wild rose bushes, lipstick stains, eclectic decorations, chainmail armour, ever-changing fashion styles

children of hypnos: lavender spray bottles, fluffy slippers, liminal dreams, ticking clocks, stretching after a good nap, valais blacknose sheep, the smell of fresh linen, pillows that are cold on both sides, sleeping through thunderstorms, oil lanterns, customised sleep masks

children of nike: golden laurels, confident smirks, unending courage and determination, gold medallions, glorious ballrooms, the stinging feeling of disappointment after losing something, wars over uno, polished trophies and medals, an obsession with Nike sportswear, track and field competitions, feathered capes

children of hebe: tea sets, skincare routines, pansies, overflowing chalices, healed inner child, satin gowns, doe eyes, ribbons braided into hair, champagne towers, bubble guns, butterfly emblems

⋆˚₊· ͟͟͞➳❥ requests are open!!

[m4sonn]

DROP THE RAPPER!CURLY AND SCIENTIST!PONY LORE

Alright guys get ready this is gonna be fire

Ponyboy always wanted to be a writer, we all know that, but as he got older he realized being a writer was most likely not gonna pay the bills and he was honestly convinced curly (his bf) was gonna end up like… sleeping on a bench in a park… so he decided to go with another of his passions, science! It’s his favorite subject other than ELA. He ends up being like… super duper well known and makes a bunch of breakthroughs in his field, he managed to earn himself a Nobel peace prize!! Woohoo!! (He’s also pretty well known for his name and bc he actually publishes the outsiders (it’d be an autobiography in this au) and it’s definitely as famous, if not more famous, as it is in modern days) While pony was going to Harvard on a full science scholarship curly was flunking community college! Originally curly’s major was probably either music, business, or ethnic studies. Well… he flunked out and lived with pony in his apartment off campus. Well.. curly starts up a career in rapping, his raps aren’t about like fucking bitches or wtv most of the time, usually they’re just about gang violence, growing up on the streets, and if anything his songs have more of a Kendrick Lamar or a redbone type vibe to them, if anything his music is kind of like mozzy. Well… curly definitely goes somewhere, a lot farther than pony thought, he ends up like mega famous. Like genuinely drake level (minus the pedophile stuff >o<). Well…… curly always had his hands in his pockets or he’s just like… slouched in an awkward position so you can’t see his hands, like during interviews he’s definitely just wearing some Nike slides, champion long socks, some non-name brand basketball shorts, a baggy black hoodie, and some beats which he doesn’t take off when people are talking to him. Even though he has money he still chooses to dress like a bum. But I digress. Curly and pony keep their personal life very private, curly honestly could care less but he just goes along with wtv pony wants so he doesn’t talk about pony in interviews or anything because pony’s a bit worried they’ll be less respected if they come out as being gay. Well, one day Curly’s getting interviewed by like… fucken’ Ellen DeGenerous or something I don’t fucking know, but anyways he’s getting interviewed and the woman’s like “so, when are you gonna tie the knot, lock it down with someone? Yknow? Have a family.” (Curly has talked about ‘fucking bitches’ and ‘fucking hoes’ only twice in his music career and when pony asked about it he responded with “Don’t worry babe, you’re the bitches and hoes, you’re the only one I be fucking.” Pony wasn’t sure how to respond to that.) and he was so utterly confused by this, he held up his hand, showing his wedding ring, “what? I’m literally married” like that shit was common knowledge. The interviewer was genuinely flabbergasted, “so… err… who’s the lucky lady…?” And he just looks even more confused (mind you this is the most emotion he has ever shown… like… ever in his whole career, curly is generally a very expressionless person.) “who said it was a girl??” The media was ALL OVER him after that, paparazzi and all that jazz. Well, after that, it became the biggest thing on the internet to try and track down who this mystery guy was. After a while the paparazzi found them eating at (I almost doxxed myself by putting a food place that only has one location which is in the city I live in but it’s the best fucking food ive ever had I’m literally frothing at the mouth thinking of their waffles rn.) some random breakfast spot together. Neither of them confirmed it until pony gave curly the ok to post something about it.

Bonuses!!:

Purly but curly makes drake type music and pony makes Lana del Rey type songs!!!

[hairmetal666]

Steddie Notes Part 4 (Welcome to Steve's POV)

CW//small instance that could be viewed as internalized homophobia

(Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3)

In the bottom of Steve’s closet is a Nike shoe box. It’s full of a year’s worth of torn notebook pages, paper menus, receipts, envelopes, sticky notes, notepad sheets, invoice carbon copies, discarded things from dnd, and whatever else they could find to write on.

It's this box that contains every bit of Steve’s heart. 

✏️✏️✏️✏️

Steve’s at the school to pick up Dustin, Mike and Lucas, but they don’t appear at 9pm on the dot like they promised. Grumbling and annoyed, Steve heads down to the drama club room.

He hears Eddie’s voice even before he walks into the room. The low baritone, all husky and threatening, sends shivers down Steve’s spine. 

Steve strides into the room, ready to berate his kids for their tardiness, but he stops literally in his tracks when he sees Eddie. Eddie looming over the table, all that long curly hair framing his face; his expression uncharacteristically dangerous, his eyes flat and promising violence.

He can’t do anything but stare, mouth shocked wide. Eddie lifts his gaze, locks it on Steve. Eddie’s looking at him with such intense command, such focus, that Steve knows he’d drop to his knees for that look, give Eddie anything he asked, everything.

He wants. So hard and so fast it makes him a little nauseous. 

Eddie’s gaze flicks away, while Steve reels from the striking clarity of feeling that rewrites the year of their friendship frame-by-frame.

Steve hardly listens, still trying to come to terms with his sudden realization, with how right it is, with how obvious it’s been this whole time. He remembers, after Starcourt, the way Eddie made him feel safe, cared for. The way Eddie calling him baby echoed for hours, days, weeks after. 

Of course Eddie doesn’t miss Steve's distraction. He leans into Steve's space, murmuring softly, “You okay, sweetheart? Sorry we ran late. Lost track of time.”

“Just tired, I guess.," he says. And he is distinctly not okay, because Eddie is calling him sweetheart and how did it take him this long to realize how much he loves the pet names? 

He tries to tell Eddie. Can’t. Too afraid of losing his friend.  He keeps going out with girls; nice girls, pretty girls, but wishes that Eddie was the one sitting beside him in the movie theater, in the passenger side of his car, across from him at the restaurant. 

Eddie…I think I really like you

You’re my favorite person in the entire world

Some days you’re the only thing I can think about

I want to wake up in bed with you everyday

I can’t stop thinking about what it would be like to kiss you

Do you like me? Yes or No

✏️✏️✏️✏️

Steve’s in the Wheeler’s basement, leaning against Eddie's shoulder, waiting for the kids to finish up.

“What are they talking about?” He scribbles at the edge of Eddie’s campaign notes.

Eddie scowls at the note placement, responds anyway. 

“Halloween costumes.” 

“Wanna dress up together, Munson?”

“No way, Harrington, I’m not dressing up as Danny Zuko for you.”

“…obviously you’re Sandy.”

Eddie makes an offended noise. 

“I could do end of the movie Sandy. But face it, baby, you’re the pretty, fresh-faced innocent and I’m the bad boy.” 

Steve strangles back the sound he wants to make when his brain supplies him with an image of Eddie in those black, skin-tight pants.

“I could be a bad boy.”

Before Eddie can reply, the kids start shouting, and Eddie climbs on the wobbling card table, clapping his hands for attention. 

“Jesus, Eds." He grabs Eddie’s ankle to keep him stable. 

“I think a trip to the pumpkin patch is in order, what say you?”

There’s a blip where the whole room stills, every single one of them, aside from Eddie, remembering rotted fields and fetid tunnels filled with Upside Down spores and demo dogs. 

“Oh, yeah, we don’t go to the pumpkin patch anymore. You know, since the tunnels—”

Steve shoots Dustin the most intense silencing looks he’s ever given anyone, which is really saying something. 

They’d agreed, back in July that they would never tell Eddie what really happened at the mall. Eddie is too good, too gentle, brimming with too much pure kindness for Steve to want him anywhere near the Upside Down.

Eddie cackles. “Tunnels, Henderson?” 

Lucas laughs, says, “He means the maze. Don’t you remember? They set it up one time a few years ago.”

“We got really lost. Took us hours to find the exit,” Dustin adds. 

“Mike cried,” Lucas says. 

“Hey! I did not!” 

Mike’s anger at fake crying about a made-up crisis is enough to have them all in stitches, even Eddie who doesn’t know it’s a lie.  

“What about that apple orchard?” Steve suggests.

Eddie pokes him in the cheek, excited. “Ooh, yes, apple orchard!?”

✏️✏️✏️✏️

The orchard is a mad dash of fighting over wheelbarrows, shrieking sprints into the trees, Steve stressing at the kids throwing themselves across branches with zero regard for personal safety. 

Eddie nearly sends him into a coronary at the ripe old age of 19 by walking down a branch like he’s doing a tightrope. 

“Munson! Get your ass down from there!”

“I’m fine, Stevie! I’ve got reflexes like a cat.”

“The hell you do!” Steve shouts as Eddie wobbles. 

“Don’t worry, baby, I know you’ll always catch me,” Eddie yells back. He winks and Steve blushes about all of it. 

“You’ll just get us both hurt,” he says right as Eddie shimmies easily back to the ground. 

“You worry too much,” he scolds. “All this beautiful hair is going to go grey,” Eddie shuffles his fingers through the strands.

“You’re a menace,” he growls. Pushes Eddie playfully away. 

They pick apples and drink cider and it’s the best time Steve’s had in a while. He kids are spread out around him, Eddie and Robin on the quest for an apple that’s perfectly red, like you could poison Snow White with it, and he’s content. Happy. 

He lets himself bask in the moment, but it’s cut short by a familiar whooping yell and the crash of Eddie Munson clinging to his back.

He groans, almost loses his footing, but quickly hoists Eddie’s legs higher against his sides.

He runs and Eddie screams, giggling, and clutches his fists into the fabric of Steve’s sweater. 

“Can’t believe you caught me, sweetheart,” Eddie says once Steve slows to a walk.

“I’ll always catch you, Eds,” he promises.

Eddie makes a little noise, almost like a whimper, pressing his cheek against Steve’s.

And for just a second, the barest hint of a moment in time, Steve swears he feels Eddie’s lips pressed against the sensitive skin right beneath his ear. 

It’s right then that Steve knows he doesn’t just like Eddie. No, he’s positively, totally, and completely in love with him.

(Part 5)

Thank you all so much for your comments and reblogs and likes! I appreciate it more than I can say and am still so honored that so many people like this little series. Please let me know if I missed you in the tag list, and I'll make sure to get you added for future updates (I think we're looking at 3 more)!

@gaysonthefloor @little-gae-shit @ineffablecolors @mojowitchcraft @hiscrimsonangel @thegingerrapunzel @adelicioustragedy @mackdaddyofheimlichcountyy @im-sam-fucking-winchester @rainydays35 @gobbledy-gluk-gluk @gay-stranger-things @sherilitchi @gezell-igg @leather-and-freckles @bornonthesavage @ramyayaya @awkwardgravity1 @chaoticvictorianspirit @thosemessyvibes @beeing-stuupid @silentiumdelirium @freyaforestafay @thatbitchgayasf @sapphirecobalt-1 @sahh-dude @adorkfromnewyork @ollie-in-gray @extralegobrick @snapshotmaestro @fandomgenderz @nuttychaosface @thatcottagecorewitch @idoquitelikebread @shinekocreator @savveth @mackfrfr 0@yourebuckingkiddingme @steddieassheg0es @gamerdano @thebig-smoke @questionablequeeries @zerokrox-blog @thegingervulcan @charlies-candid-corner @perpetual-trashcan @sleepy-rainedrop @marvelous-musicals @hoffmannwrites @fromapayphone @courtjestermunson@juicinmyjams @daydreaming-mood @aceflavouredyougurt @emly03 @pille1983 @darcyshandflex @anteaterballs @adankrivervalleynearyou @didntwant2come @kittsu-makes-glass @alienace

@somewhereatdawn @5pac3g1r7 @thequeervibes @paperbackribs @bitchysunflower @knitsforthetrail @wrenisflying @plasticcrotches @demoniccorvid @em9515 @savory-babby @loverliner @aceacebaby42 @trainchomp @anaibis @sharkruption @quickenedheartbeat @fandomcartographer

[readyforevolution]

When Allyson Felix became pregnant, Nike was prepared to cut the terms of Felix's endorsement by as much as 70% due to the pregnancy, and told her to “know your place and just run.” 🤯

Amid all of this, she was forced to have an emergency c-section seven months into her pregnancy because of a potentially life-threatening condition and her baby had to live for more than a month in the NICU. But two years later she’s qualified for her fifth Olympics with her daughter watching.

Felix dropped Nike and created her own brand of running shoes, the Saysh One. She is currently running in the Olympics in Japan wearing them under the banner “I Know My Place”. 😏

With 11 medals now, she passed Carl Lewis this summer for the most track and field medals by an American in history!

"I used my voice and built this company for you. So that you never have to train at 4:30am while you're 5 months pregnant to hide your pregnancy from your sponsor.”