Triathlete Magazine’s latest fi’zi:k ad

The latest issue of Triathlete Magazine is out on the news stands and being the swimsuit issue it has the effect of dragging out all the conservatives and those who feel it is sexually objectifies the human form, which is considered inappropriate in these politically correct times.

One of the, many, complaints is that they use swimsuit models rather than actual athletes and this is where Fi’zi:k jumped to the rescue in their typical dark and edgy style. Unfortunately it seems to have had the opposite effect and has been accused of contributing to a poor body image. Some of the comments on Slowtwitch are particularly harsh, especially when you consider that their forum is largely made up of amateur triathletes.

To me the image just portrays a bunch of athletes at the top of their game and illustrates the realities of competing at that level. If I had a dime for every time someone told me I was too skinny, I would be a millionaire and while I don’t specifically set out to achieve single figure body-fat percentages, it is a by product of training and racing hard.

I am not saying that we should glorify the way they look but by the same token I do not find it unattractive or alarming. All I have is respect for what they have achieved and admiration for their dedication in what is not an easy sport.

I guess it’s the old adage of ‘you can please some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time but you can’t please all of the people all of the time” that applies here and we are all unique so perhaps its time that we stop projecting our issues onto everyone else, and starting owning them for ourselves.