Athletes with nothing to wear

24th July 2010

© Erik van Leeuwen "We don't want to be treated like men," says Anita Wlodarczyk Share:

The Polish national team heading to the European Athletics Championships in Barcelona are facing all sorts of problems with their kit. Some athletes, including world record holder and gold medal contender Anita Wlodarczyk, have nothing to wear.

“There isn’t a kit in my size. They’ve given me the men’s set, so I guess I’ll be competing with the boys. I know we’re slightly larger women than our friends from other disciplines, but we don’t want to be treated like men,” commented Wlodarczyk.

It’s not just the sizes that are the problem, she continued, “We’re flying to a warm country, where the temperatures are certain to be high, and we haven’t got short skirts for daily wear.”

According to Michal Gornicki, Reebok’s head of marketing for Central Europe, they have supplied what they were asked for, “I don’t know where the mistake was made or by who. We need to look into it. We’ll do what we can to keep the athletes happy, though.”