The new Nike-designed "Swift Suit" uniforms for the
U.S. Olympic track & field team were unveiled at the Olympic
Trials in Sacramento yesterday, according to Bob Baum of the
AP, who reports the uniforms are "skin-tight and made of
Lycra" and include "a Spiderman-looking outfit, complete
with cape, for the sprinters," while men's distance runners
will have a mesh top. The "colors are subdued, in blue,
black and a checkered red, hence the Spiderman look." Baum
notes that while the U.S. track & field uniforms "for
decades" had a "stars and stripes shield over the heart,"
the new logo features a "streamlined version of the shield,
with the letters USA stacked vertically attached to golden
wings, representing victory and triumph" (AP, 7/21).
DID THEY LIKE 'EM? In N.Y., Filip Bondy writes that the
Nike full-bodied Swift Suit "will be the scourge" of this
summer's Sydney Games, "creating an army of unrecognizable,
plastic clones in search of the perfect air or water
current. ... [The Swift Suit] is as ridiculous now as the
leisure suit in the 70s, only not quite as elegant" (N.Y.
DAILY NEWS, 7/21). In Seattle, Art Thiel writes that the
uniforms were "just about one tattoo short of turnbuckle-
worthy. Besides a mean-looking black with a Spiderman
pattern, the unis were festooned with some vaguely fascistic
symbols -- an ominous "USA" upon a winged shield, coupled
with a red star that would do proud any remaining Soviet
communists" (SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER, 7/21).
STATE OF THE SPORT: In Baltimore, Paul McMullen writes
that the winged-logo "begs the question: Will the sport
still fly after the Olympics are done in October?" While
USAT&F is "floating on a current of positive developments at
its Olympic trials, ... part of track and field's four-year
cycle ... is that it has a habit of disappearing from the
national radar" after the Olympics. During his state of
USAT&F address yesterday, CEO Craig Masback "proudly
trumpeted the fact that sponsorships" to the governing body
have "quadrupled" to $8M "since he took over" in '97
(Baltimore SUN, 7/21). Masback:" We need to structure the
rules of the sport to make it as entertaining as possible.
We need to look at the field events to max out the
entertainment value" (SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER, 7/21).
