In Pictures: Bad Gymnastics Hair

Gymnasts have it tough in the hair department. Their first priority is to keep that shit out of their faces in order to do all of those crazy circus moves. Hence, the gymnasty hair trends that won't die.

Like the infantilizing Goody StayPut barrette:

Not to mention that iconic symbol of 90's fug and suburban mom fatigue, the scrunchie.

The worst hairstyle of the sport on the women's side has got to be the man-cut. 33 year-old gymnast Oksana Chusovitina--formerly of Russia, Uzbekistan, and now Germany--has this unfortunate 'do, which I fear detracts from the awesomeness of her story.

The men's side of things is even more dismal, with most male gymnasts opting for a short, clean cut. Snooze! I'm still waiting for a dashing, hirsute, Bjorn Borg-type to crash the international gymnastics scene. But until then...

Everyone's talking about China and Japan in men's gymnastics this Olympics because they're both favorites for team gold, finishing one-two in the qualifying round. China won gold in 2000 and Japan took it in 2004, and their current teams are led by Yang Wei and Hiroyuki Tomita, respectively, veterans of those winning teams. But what happens when these two go, er, head-to-head?

Do you prefer Yang Wei's spiky fauxhawk or Hiroyuki Tomita's mop top?

Now y'all don't get all nationalistic on this one like my grandmother would (she pretty much hates everything Japanese after living through the Occupation). It's only hair, people.

Source

Comments

[rini]

One thing that you didn't mention was traction alopecia.

The female gymnasts seem prone to this. They pull their hair back so tightly that they begin to develop thinning hair at the temples.. Any high ponytail will do this. If you are young, you can begin to get fuzzy hairs trying to grow back. If you keep at it, though you will always have a slightly receded hairline. I am always amazed at women who seem to care about their appearance who do no realize that they are literally pulling their own hair out with theses hairstyles. Balding is not a good look for most women.

[Idiocracy]

I have so much respect for all these kids... For a brief moment in time the last few days, i almost forget how messed up the world is..

If anything, the Olympics has been a wonderful distraction from all the evil politics out there.

[chinationreport]

I am watching them right now! Despite their hair, which I find very cute, I am inspired by their strength and beauty! I wish my children would just work 10% as hard as they do to achieve their dream. Years of sacrifice and hard work, this is their moment of glory or maybe humiliation, at huge risk of life long pain and hurt... How can one not be touched and inspired?

From:
http://www.chinationreport.com/

[Idiocracy]

Amen!

[ScandalousCandice]

It's not nice to make fun of the Chinese Gymnasts. They are only 10 and 12 years old. That sort of hair clip is cute for little girls. But not so cute for actual teenagers.

[Charity]

LOL. but hey, their passports say they are "16"......

[ianrthorpe]

They have hair issues in the swimming pool too, but the back, sack and crack variety are causing the problems there.
http://greenteeth.blog.co.uk/2008/08/11/bodysuit-v-birthdaysuit-4572785