Norway s women s beach handball team gets fined for not playing in bikinis | 96 3 KHEY Country iheart.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from iheart.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
4:38 PM
When the European Championship began, the members of the Norwegian women’s beach handball team played in their standard uniforms: sports bras and bikini briefs that could not exceed 10 centimeters at the sides.
They played eight games in “panties,” as longtime team member Elisabeth Hammerstad refers to them, before they decided to rebel.
At their bronze-medal match on Sunday, once they’d qualified for the upcoming world championship, the Norwegian players ran onto the court in shorts. It was an opportunity to make a statement, Hammerstad said. “We are athletes who just want to be playing our sport.”
For violating the rules of the International Handball Federation, the team was fined 1,500 euros, or about $1,770.
Men’s shorts, on the other hand, must not be “too baggy,” and remain about 10 centimetres above the kneecap.
The ruling has made international news, with many calling it out as an example of sexism.
“It was very spontaneous. We thought that ‘now we just do it, then we will see what happens,” Norwegian player Katinka Haltvik told NRK. Haltvik added that the team asked to wear shorts earlier in the tournament, but were denied.
“I hope we get a breakthrough for this and that next summer we play in what we want,” she added.
President of the Norwegian Handball Federation, Kare Geir Lio, is backing his team’s decision.
This Norwegian beach handball bikini debacle is absurdly archaic
In sports, rules are supposed to make sure that there is as much parity among competitors as possible. The width of a bikini band has no bearing on these terms.
Norway s Marielle Mathisen plays a shot during the 2018 Women s Beach Handball World Cup Final against Greece in Kazan, Russia.Ilnar Tukhbatov / Epsilon via Getty Images file
July 20, 2021, 10:43 PM UTC
ByEmma Gray, MSNBC Opinion Columnist
Even being a world-class athlete won’t shield you from having to deal with misogynist crap.
This week, the Norwegian women’s beach handball team was fined 1,500 euro (about $1,765) by the European Handball Federation. Their transgression? Wearing spandex shorts instead of bikini bottoms during the team’s bronze medal match at the European Beach Handball Championships.
Women s beach handball team fined for choosing shorts over bikini bottoms kake.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from kake.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.