"It's not easy for everyone to show themselves": female gymnasts now allowed to wear shorts

Gymnasts will now be able to wear shorts. The news was communicated to all women's artistic gymnastics clubs by email at the end of January. A small revolution in this sport where women were forced to compete in leotards under penalty of a penalty of 0.3 points on their final score.

Until now, it was necessary to make a request for exemption to the judges, now it will be accepted without any specific request. A long-awaited change in gymnastics clubs.

A small piece of fabric measuring 10 centimetres, that's the size of the shorts allowed over the gymnasts' leotards. Karine Hugon is the president of a gymnastics club in Saint-Nazaire with more than 370 members: "It's not easy for everyone to show themselves. Especially during a period of body transformation. It's as if we were in a swimsuit, there are a lot of eyes on them." A decision taken by the French Gymnastics Federation, headed by a woman for the first time in its history.

A new rule welcomed by Émilie Koenig, president of a Parisian gymnastics club: "When periods come, it's true that it's more pleasant to be in shorts than in a leotard". The practice will be more enjoyable for all gymnasts when they perform: "Without always wondering if something will stick out, if we'll see something..."

Raphaëlle Rémy Leleu, a Paris councillor and eco-feminist activist, sees more freedom for women in sport, and more equality too: "Typically, men have been able to wear shorts for decades. It never occurred to anyone to put them in leotards. It's simply a form of recovery and evolution that is going in the right direction."

Proof of the importance of the issue of menstruation: one in two teenage girls stops playing sport because of their periods, according to a study conducted two years ago.