Bland or chic? Have your say on our Olympic uniforms

On Tuesday, the nation finally got to see what Australia’s Olympic athletes will be wearing when they walk out on to Tokyo’s New National Stadium in 66 days’ time (fingers crossed).

Hating on our Olympic uniforms has practically become its own sport, right? Indeed. I’ve previously likened our team’s uniforms to a barber shop quartet (Rio 2016) and students of a particular Melbourne girls’ school (London 2012).

There have been far, far worse though. True, before my time, but some of the most derided uniforms in history include Los Angeles – hey, it was the ’80s! – the wattle-coloured fauna dress landed somewhere between nanna’s curtains and the costume for a bad Australia Zoo parody. I’m not sure what was worse, the koala nuzzling the chests of the female athletes, or the giant kookaburra on the men’s shirts.

How much do we hate this year’s? If you think I am going to just feed the tall poppy machine, I am deeply sorry.

So, you’re a fan? In news that even surprised me, there is actually a lot to like about the Tokyo uniforms. For starters, the grey linen jacket, designed by Sportscraft, longstanding maker of Olympic uniforms both cringeworthy and less cringeworthy, is the most minimalist attempt at a blazer in recent history. It’s a pretty big contrast to the “graffiti” denim jacket athletes from Canada will be wearing.

But the lining hides a surprise, yeah? Indeed, for all the Max Mara-esque minimalism on the outside, the lining has a roll-call of the names of past gold medallists (all 320 of them!). The point, of course, is that the country’s top sportsmen and women will have their mentors and heroes close to their hearts (I cannot believe I just wrote that either).