3 minute read
Australian athletes have lauded their uniforms for the opening ceremony of the London Olympics.
Australian athletes will march into London's Olympic stadium in July looking like a 400-strong squad of lawn bowlers.
So say veterans of the unofficial Olympic sport of uniform-bagging.
But the athletes inside the uniforms beg to differ.
They had a say in the design for once, and are thrilled with the threads.
They insist the 2012 outfits, unveiled in Sydney on Thursday, make them feel proudly Australian, stylish and comfortable, from their dark green blazers, ties and gold-flashed neckerchiefs down to the tips of their white Dunlop Volleys.
The pukka blazers, adorned with antique brass buttons and the gold Olympic crest, are generally thought to be a hit.
But in league with white shirts, white slacks for men, white knee-length skirts for women, and white shoes, some say the athletes look all set to roll down a few ends at the nearest bowls rink, with a bracing Pimm's to follow.
It's a tough challenge coming up with one ensemble that will simultaneously flatter towering basketballers, tiddly gymnasts and hefty shot-putters.
Clothing sizes ranged from 2XS to 7XL and shoe sizes from an eight-year-old's size 13 to an adult 18, larger than Ian Thorpe's.
Normally the uniforms are unveiled at the opening ceremony, where fashionistas peek through cracked fingers waiting for the latest in couture criminality.
This first ever pre-Games preview will take the element of surprise, and perhaps the attendant artistic heat, out of the march-past on July 27.
Australian chef de mission Nick Green said: "I'm very proud of the uniform, and so are the athletes.
"The challenge was to find something that looks great and feels comfortable at the same time.
"Everything has to be right on the day, and the uniforms reflect that."
Swimmer Libby Trickett, who joined Green and fellow Olympians Chris Fydler and Trent Franklin on a design sub-committee, said the uniforms would produce a "huge wow factor" at the Games.
Athletes could be "a little bit precious" and had complained about previous team outfits, she said.
"But these were designed by athletes for athletes. At the end of the day we know what we like."
Basketballer Lauren Jackson was unconcerned about the lawn bowls jibes.
"I don't care. I think lawn bowlers look good, too, so I'm not worried about that at all," she said.
"I'm comfortable and I think we look great."
She described the blazer as timeless, saying: "I feel I could have worn it at the 1948 Olympics and I could wear it at the 2048 Olympics.
"It's classic and iconically Australian."
The colour of the Sportscraft blazers was described in some quarters as British racing green, which may not have been a good sound at a Games where Australia is fixated on beating the Brits.
Daniel Bracken, CEO of design company Apparel Group, came up instead with "Austral green" and said the uniform struck a good balance.
"It's classic and formal but relaxed," he said. "It's old world London and new world, too, and the gold is not overpowering."
