Nike is responding to criticism and accusations of sexism over the company's uniforms for Team USA athletes in the run-up to the 2024 Olympics.
The Olympic Games will take place in Paris this summer, starting on July 26.
Images of the set reveal that one option for women is a high-cut, one-piece uniform. The men's kit, however, appears to feature longer spandex shorts and a full coverage top.
The outfits quickly drew backlash from current and former athletes across the sport.
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“Women's bras should be in the service of performance, mentally and physically. If this garment was truly beneficial for physical performance, men would wear it,” former US champion runner Lauren Fleshman wrote in a post long on Instagram. “This is not an elite athletic kit for athletes. This is a suit born of patriarchal forces that are no longer welcome or necessary to draw attention to women's sports.”
Another former American Olympian, Tara Davis-Woodhall, who is aiming to earn a spot in the 2024 games for Team USA, commented in an Instagram post from Faster mag saying that she “hoo haa be out.
“This mannequin is standing tall and it's all showing… imagine MID BUTTERFLY,” wrote US Paralympian Jaleen Roberts.
However, Nike's vice president of apparel innovation, Janett Nichol, explained CBS that the uniforms were made using technology at the Nike Sports Research Lab in Oregon to help create apparel that would allow athletes to perform at their optimal level.
“On the apparel side, the reason it's a game changer for us is because we've now been able to take the insights of the athletes, along with the data, and use that algorithm to create something that allows us to get to a level of specificity, fidelity, and accuracy that we've never been able to do before,” Nichol told the media.
Nike clarified by email to Reuters that USA Track & Field female athletes were given the option to wear the unitard in a short or short style and that the complete set for both men and women includes over 50 different pieces and 12 different styles in depending on the specific event in which they will participate.
Nike did not immediately respond The entrepreneurRequest for comment.