Kristiina Mäkelä’s comments last year caused a wide discussion about angles.
Kristiina Mäkelä represented Finland at the Tokyo Olympics. Pasi Liesimaa
Triple Jumper Kristiina Mäkelä gave a powerful statement last year about the cameras at the defection site of the World Championships in Athletics.
At that time, Mäkelä commented on the photographers’ tools, which were set up in such a way that the jumper’s crotch is visible in the pictures in a very unpleasant way.
In the star jumper’s opinion, the inappropriate angles were purposeful.
– How would you feel if someone at your workplace took pictures of your crotch and published them in a magazine? Mäkelä wrote on Instagram at the time.
A small step
At the time, Mäkelä’s comments led to a wider discussion on the matter. The triple jumper received a lot of understanding from citizens and even from international photo agencies.
Now, about a year later, the defector says that he has noticed a slight improvement in this matter.
– At the European Championships in Munich, there was no camera like that on the track. I don’t know if it was in the indoor races, but as if my exit had really worked, which is great, Mäkelä was happy at the Joensuu GP races.
Mäkelä’s writing made big headlines, and there was a wide discussion about it in sports circles. However, other triple jumpers have not spoken to Mäkelä about the subject.
– I haven’t really talked about it with other jumpers. When the media makes a fuss about something, you don’t want to think about it while playing sports. At least no one has come to say that they would get those angles back.
Dress code
After Mäkelä came out, the competition outfits of track and field athletes were brought up in the conversation. Many commentators turned the discussion in the direction that there would be no problem if the defectors wore long-legged outfits.
Mäkelä did not want to comment on this aspect of the discussion.
– I don’t want to comment on this matter, because I know that nothing useful will come of this, Mäkelä laughs.