Girls give skirts a thumbs down
Female boxers preparing for the London Olympics want to make a statement with their punches; not with their clothing.
The International Amateur Boxing Association recently sparked charges of sexism by announcing that officials were discussing whether women should be urged to wear skirts in the ring at the 2012 Games.
With a decision not set to be made until January, a pre-Olympic test event this week at the ExCel Arena in London, the venue for boxing and six other sports next summer, involving competitors from 21 nations has brought the issue to the forefront.
Certainly, among Britain's female contingent, there won't be a skirt in sight over the four days of competition.
"They are boxers and they want to wear boxing kit," Britain's podium coach, Dave Alloway, said on Wednesday.
"Some of the (female) boxers would possibly say, 'I'll wear what they tell me to wear if they are the rules,' but most would say 'we have earned the right to be boxers and we want to go as boxers, not female boxers.'"
The AIBA has suggested that wearing skirts would help women stand out from the men. Female boxers from Poland and Romania wore skirts at last month's European Championships in the Netherlands.
Natasha Jonas, a British lightweight who is competing this week, said the idea had not found much support among her team-mates.
"There should be a choice; no one should be forced to do anything," she said. "In other sports, like football and cricket, you aren't forced to wear skirts so I don't see why boxing should have to.
"For me, it doesn't seem practical. I know there are girls in AIBA who wear skirts all the time. But psychologically, I don't feel comfortable wearing one."
Sebastien Gillot, communications director for AIBA, said that under no circumstances would wearing skirts be compulsory for female boxers next summer.
The organisation was simply sounding out opinion from the national federations and the wider public.
An AIBA spokesman said: "It has never been the intention to make skirts compulsory for women. We are gathering opinions from the boxing world but without anticipating too much on next January's meeting, skirts will remain optional.
"We want women's boxers to be as much comfortable as they can, no matter if it's with a short or a skirt."
FLAGBEARERS
Women's boxing will be making its medal debut at the London Olympics.
"These girls can be flagbearers," Alloway said. "If they get a gold medal, they will be superstars. To become the first women to win gold at an Olympics can make them history makers."
Female boxers from four continents will be competing in three weight divisions in the test event, starting Thursday and going through to Sunday. There will also be a men's event, across ten divisions.
Just as in the first batch of test events, the organisers will try out the timing and scoring technology, the weigh-in and camera angles, among other things.