Gymnasts Wear Scrunchies

I love watching the gymnastics when the Commonwealth or Olympic Games are on. Well, slight exaggeration, but it's my preferred sport to view, particularly when the other options are shooting or badminton or other such crowdpleasing events. The sheer athleticism and strength of gymnasts is astounding. Let's forget for a moment that the female competitors are awfully young and doing horrendous things to their bodies' development; or that the men probably get teased incessantly for doing a "girl's" sport despite being fitter and way more ripped than any footballer. Last night I watched a young lass do all sorts of mind-boggling flips on the balance beam, and I don't know if you've ever tried to even walk along one of those but they are sacrily narrow, so to cartwheel and jump and do lordy knows what else along it is flatout amazing.  But one thing kept grating my nerves as I watched the female competitors. They all wear scrunchies. Scrunchies! And not even in a retro-cool kinda way. Though, I'm not sure anyone can get away with them, even in a retro-cool kinda way, and even if you were born in the mid-90's and think that Ray-Bans have only just been invented. Backpacks and socks with sandals and leggings might have made a comeback, but scrunchies have thankfully stayed off our radars.

Gymnasts are wearing them with scraped back, hairspray-glitter-laden hair, and preferably with a few large snap clips. Obviously you don't want hair flapping in your face when you're flipping, but there are other options people! Other snagless, strong, and visually less Tina Sparkle-d options. (Incidentally, I only just realised that Sonya Kruger is Tina Sparkle. HOW did I not realise this before? And Wayne Burns is my mum's cousin's husband's brother. True story).

So scrunchies are still out there. Perhaps not surprisingly, the hipsters at American Apparel are selling them to us. And perhaps more surprisingly, when you google "gymasts wearing scrunchies", a piccy of Madge at the 2009 Met Costume Gala comes up first:

Anyway, while our gymnasts may be a bit...awkward...in the fashion stakes, where it really matters (ie on the scoreboard), they rock. 9 Gold, 3 Silver and 4 Bronze at the Delhi Games is nothing short of awesome.