We’ve already written at HuffPost UK about how much Olympians get paid for scoring a medal.
We’ve even shared the touching reason why 2024 athletes competing in Stade de France ring that bronze bell after getting the gold.
That’s all well and good. But it doesn’t answer the most salient question of the Games ― in such a leotard and short shorts-filled environment, what happens if athletes get a wedgie mid-race/dive/vault/etc?
Sometimes, you can lose points
Yes, really.
Gymnast Nastia Liukin, who won a rake of gold medals in the 2008 Olympics, told People.com in 2016: “You’re not allowed to [pick a wedgie] or else you get deducted.”
So, “a lot of people use like sticky spray for your butt so your leotard doesn’t move,” she told the publication ― though she’s not one of them.
Instead, she dealt with it away from the beam, floor, vault, or bars ― “if you have a fall and your leotard goes up your butt, you don’t want to fix it in the middle of your routine.”
“Off to the side, it’s totally fine,” she added.
That’s only gymnastics, of course; but in 2004, former Olympic swimmer Amanda Beard told FHM that her sport had its secrets too.
“I wear a two-piece a lot to train in and I wedge it right up my butt,” she revealed at the time.
I guess if you stay pained, you don’t have to adjust anything mid-swim...
That’s not the only obscure rule, though
It turns out that aside from dealing with any, er, discomfort mid-performance, Olympic gymnasts can have points deducted for showing their bra strap, too.
In the same 2016 People interview, Nastia Liukin revealed that support isn’t built into the leotards ― “The leotard company makes [seperate underwear] so they’re briefs just like nude briefs and then a nude sports bra.”
“But it is a deduction if your bra strap is out so you have to look after that. It’s a lot to think about,” she added.
Honeslty, I reckon they should get a medal for just having to deal with those annoying straps all day in the first place...