How Olympic uniforms have evolved throughout history

When Australians think of high-tech Olympic Games uniforms, Cathy Freeman's iconic super suit is usually top of mind.

The Sydney 2000 green, gold and grey bodysuit stunned viewers across the world, as Freeman won gold in the 400m sprint for Australia.

But 100 years earlier, women were competing in high-neck, knee-length dresses.

Swipe through to see how Olympic uniforms have evolved over the last century.

Women first competed in the Olympic Games Paris 1900, four years after the first Games was held with only men in 1896.

In the 1900 Games, 22 women competed in tennis, sailing, croquet, golf and horseback riding compared to 975 men who competed in 20 sports.

"At the time women predominantly wore long sleeves with high necks and skirts or dresses had covered the ankles," Victoria University Women in Sport Chair Clare Hanlon told 9news.com.au

Pictured here is Charlotte Cooper from Great Britain who became the first woman to win an Olympic event in singles tennis.

She also won in mixed doubles.

Hanlon said at that time men were wearing knee-length shorts and long or short sleeves depending on the sport.

Pictured is the France rugby team before a game against the Germans in Vincennes from the second Games in 1900.

Nineteen nations competed in fencing with France dominating the event.

Pictured here is fencing foil master Lucien Merignac, who came first for France.

Hanlon said at this time there was a big difference between men's and women's sports in terms of participation and uniforms.

She said men were allowed to have variance in their uniforms but for women, it was "fairly strict as to what they could wear".

Pictured here is a group of athletes from the United States of America.

In tennis men wore long sleeves and long pants with a collar but women's uniforms were far more restrictive.

Pictured are tennis singles brothers Hugh Lawrence Doherty who finished first and Reginald Frank Doherty who finished third for Great Britain.

Hanlon described how restrictive the long dresses were for women.

"So you can imagine playing sport, participating and competing in sport when you've got dresses that cover your ankles.

"The women weren't feeling comfortable and the images of women playing back in the 1900s where they were terribly flushed."

Pictured is Suzanne Lenglen a French singles and mixed doubles champion in 1920.

"One of the reasons why these uniforms were required was because there was a concern that women's bodies when they were playing sport would distract male athletes," Halnlon told 9news.com.au

"Women needed to keep the feminine look intact."

Lenglen is pictured again with a shawl and shoes with a ballet-style ribbon.

One Olympic uniform that was similar for men and women in the early days of the Games was the swimming uniform.

"They were actually similar for women and men where it was a loose one-piece suit and over short black trunks," Hanlon said.

After Suzanne Lenglen played in a knee-length tennis skirt in the 1920s things began to progress for women.

Over the next few decades, women began wearing loose t-shirts and shorts to compete.

Pictured is Gertrude Ederle from the US who was a champion swimmer.

Fast-forward to the 1960s and sports brands were beginning to move in.

"It started to transform what athletes wore such as not only high-tech sneakers but also outfits," Hanlon said.

Pictured is Tamara Press throwing a discus, who came first for the Soviet Union (now known as Russia).

She is wearing Addidas shoes.

"So you've got Adidas and Puma where they started sponsoring athletes.

"They paid them to wear brands," Hanlon said.

Pictured are marathon runners Peter Joseph Mcardle (USA), Leonard G Edelen (USA) and Mohamed Haddeb Hannachi (TUN).

The Olympic Games Tokyo 1964 were the first to be held in Asia.

Pictured here are athletes Hideo Iijima Papan and Ikuko Yoda Japan.

"It's the 1960s where all of a sudden uniforms started to make a statement about the need for aerodynamics.

"Back then it was it was the comfort, it was the fit."

Pamela Ryan is pictured in an Australian women's athletics uniform running in the 80m hurdles.

She came third in the event.

Tokyo 1964 was the last occasion that a stopwatch was used for timing.

Uniforms slowly turned from comfort to aerodynamics throughout the 70s, 80s and 90s. 

It was Sydney 2000 when Cathy Freeman's super suit took the evolution of Olympic uniforms to the next level.

Freeman's bodysuit underwent years of design by Nike to ensure it would be the fastest and most aerodynamic uniform possible for the 400m sprint.

Experts measured her body and tested different fabrics in wind tunnels in the lead-up to the Games, according to The Sydney Morning Herald.

Aerodynamic uniforms then went a step further with Speedo's LZR Racer suit unveiled in 2008.

It led to an astonishing 255 world records being set before the technology was banned in 2010.

At Beijing 2008, Michael Phelps won a record eight gold medals while wearing the suit.

After 43 world records were set at the 2009 Rome championships, the international governing body eliminated the suits.

Today, suits must be made from textile materials and can only stretch from the waist to the top of the knees for men and from the shoulders to the knees for women.

Designers began experimenting with Australia's uniforms outside of competition as well.

Athletes donned green and white striped blazers with white bottoms during the opening ceremony of the Rio Olympics.

Hanlon said there were still differences in clothing between men and women.

She said beach volleyball was an example where people weren't sure if the uniforms were appropriate. 

"Men are allowed to wear tops that are sleeveless and women need to wear crop tops.

"You talk about men wearing shorts and women wearing bikini bottoms.

"But one thing they have incorporated, which was fantastic, and that was a cold weather uniform."

She said women and men could wear long tight pants and close-fitting t-shirts as part of that winter uniform.

Hanlon doesn't believe that volleyball uniforms have enough flexibility for athletes.

"It's still got a way to go though because women should have a choice and I think that's what this comes back down to... is having the choice," she said.

At Tokyo 2020, German gymnasts wore full-length bodysuits in protest of the sexulisation of their sport.

It was the first Olympic Games since Larry Nassar, a former USA Gymnastics national team doctor, was sent to prison for 176 years for sexually abusing hundreds of gymnasts, including some of the sport's greatest stars.

At his sentencing, athletes — some of them Olympians — described how the sport's culture allowed for abuse and objectification of young women and girls, according to the Associated Press.

Male gymnasts wear comparatively body-covering clothes: singlets, with loose shorts for their floor exercise and vault, and long pants on bar and pommel horse routines.

"Athletes are now having a voice and I think the international federations need to make sure that they are catering for the needs of athletes if they want them to be performance-driven," Hanlon said.

Their wardrobe revolution, while widely championed, has not so far started a trend.

American superstar Simone Biles said at the Games that she preferred leotards because they lengthened the leg and made her appear taller.

"But I stand with their decision to wear whatever they please and whatever makes them feel comfortable," Biles said.

"So if anyone out there wants to wear a unitard or leotard, it's totally up to you."