INTERNATIONAL: Day five of the 2020 Summer Games and the medals have started rolling in for the biggest teams. The US has gone top of the table with 13 golds, but there’s some drama brewing over what women athletes should be allowed to wear.
But first to the medals table and thanks to swimming and the men’s and women’s skeet discipline in shooting, the US has gone top. In swimming, the women’s 100m backstroke went to Russia, which is playing under the name of the Russian Olympic Committee due to a ban on its country name that is still in place over the doping scandal of 2012. Russia is currently climbing up the rankings though and is now 4th with 5 golds and 15 medals in total. Japan and China complete the medal table podium.
But as we said, there’s drama. The German women's gymnastics team has opted to wear full-body suits in a move they said was designed to promote freedom of choice and encourage women to wear what makes them feel comfortable rather than what might be good for TV ratings. Outfits covering legs are authorized in international competitions, even though to date they have been worn almost exclusively for religious reasons. The bottom line is that women athletes are tired of the discrimination they face when it comes to sportswear and want competition to rather focus on fair, equal and standardized conditions.
