Team GB 2012 kit unveiled - three cheers for the, er, turquoise, white and blue
Stella McCartney-designed Adidas kit likely to get a reaction, but perhaps not the one desired
Team GB 2012 kit Sir Chris Hoy
Adidas has this morning unveiled the Stella McCartney kit that Britain’s athletes will wear at the London 2012 Olympics, now just over four months away. While the prospect of the first home Olympics since 1948 plus the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations means that the country is likely to become swathed in a sea of red, white and blue over the summer, the likes of Sir Chris Hoy won’t.
If the London 2012 logo provoked controversy when it was launched in 2007 – a selection of comments can be found on the BBC Sport Editors’ blog – we suspect that’s nothing compared to what the public reaction will be when the 2012 kit hits the newspapers.
Cycling and other sports are ones in which there is a balance between progress, on the one hand, and tradition and heritage on the other, with many people feeling that some things just shouldn’t be altered, and that includes the basic colours of national kit.
Those don't necessarily reflect national flag colours - the Netherlands' orange is derived from the colours of the royal house of that name, while Italy’s azzurri wear the blue that was the colour of the House of Savoy under which the country was united; however, Britain’s finest have always tended to chase gold in the red, white and blue of the Union Flag.
Except this year, they’ll be doing so in several shades of blue, including turquoise, with red reserved for the collar. It's not so much the de-emphasising of the red that is likely to cause most comments, however - that's been happening for some time - but rather the toying with the colours of what remains one of the world's most readily identifiable flags.
While reaction to the kit is likely to revolve around its aesthetics, there’s a scientific reason too for ensuring that team kit should contain a healthy splurge of red – a study by sports psychologists in Germany published in 2009 found that athletes and teams wearing red kit were 10 per cent were more successful than those wearing other colours.
Researchers suggested that a combination of the confidence the colour inspires and the feelings of dominance and aggression it provoked might lie behind the findings.
There was evidence, too that it wasn’t just competitors who were influenced by kit colour. As part of the research, Tae-Kwondo judges were shown videos of bouts, and awarded more points to those with red, rather than blue belts; when the images were digitally altered to reverse the colours, those whose blue belts had been manipulated to appear red came out on top.
There’s a bit more red on the tracksuit worn by Victoria Pendleton in this picture, although again the change of colour palette of the flag itself is going to jar with purists, not to mention incorporating the belt into its design.
The kit got its launch this morning at the Tower of London. It’s been a few hundred years since they stuck traitors’ heads on spikes on nearby London Bridge, but we wouldn’t be surprised if some of the newspapers are calling for heads to roll come the morning.
chris hoy with a road bike? 
I think it's ace. Cue the "my six year old could design better" remarks.
two wheels good; four wheels bad
i think the design as applied to VP's judo style jacket and the tennis top / football shirt look ok but some of the other stuff is just a bit... meh? And what's with the X factor stomach girdle thing on the runners kit?
I think it's ace. Cue the "my six year old could design better" remarks.
My three and a half year old could design better. And she's a miniature schnauzer...
Never mind the outfits i like the Pinarello in the team colours.
Mind you the wrap around the waist in VP's image looks crap and thats being polite.
Stumpy
Heading for gold? Nope just the TK Max clearance rack.
Never mind the outfits i like the Pinarello in the team colours.
The *old* team colours, you mean...
I've not noticed the kit. I'm still staring at Sir Chris Hoy's quads.
Patrick.
It's just awful.
They won't listen to us, of course, but money talks, and they might be swayed by the thought that sales of replica kit will be pitiful.
I think the new uniforms are ace. Way more tasteful than the brighter blue/red combo of the actual flag. Unless we want our teams wandering round looking like Ginger Spice. Plus, maybe the darker colours are edging towards black, and that make athletes more aggressive :-
next time get Rapha to do it.
I wonder if giving a road bike to Chris Hoy is like giving a manual stick drive to an American?
Does he know how it works? 
I like dark blue personally, though I think there should have been more red and less white.
Athletes in red are better. Shame the UK athletes actually can't see they are wearing red
I suppose we are stuck with red, white and blue. But does the background have to be navy? Why not green or orange or purple? Shorts would be black natch.
It's just awful.They won't listen to us, of course, but money talks, and they might be swayed by the thought that sales of replica kit will be pitiful.
I'd guess whatever replica kit there will be will already have hit the warehouse so it's probably a moot point. Besides, I don't think replica Olympic kit has quite the same market as for example, football shirts so it's probably not something they'd worry about.
WTF!!!
antonio
Maybe I'm down with the kids, maybe I don't know what I'm on about... But I like it. Certainly better than the last Olympic gear (white top, blue shorts, GREAT BRITAIN across the chest) which was dull, dull, dull. British cycling's kit in Copenhagen was "traditional" red, white and blue Union-flag-based but I thought it was awful as depending on what side of the road the cameras were on depended on whether you were looking out for riders in blue or red!
I think the Team Pursuiters would like quite menacing in their blue/black up against the Aussies in their dayglo yellow gear (and we will need all the pyschological advantages we can use at the moment...)
Hmmmm I do like Hoy and Murray not having GREAT BRITAIN plastered across it, but thats just because i'm Scottish. Its a bloody awful kit, did we expect any better from the idiots at the head of the Olympics?
Where can you get the replica all in one as modelled by Sir Chris......I need it for my daily commute especially if this weather stays as warm as it is!
I love the smell of cleats (mexican accent, you do the jokes)
I wonder in what way they are going to 're-mix' the National anthem this summer.
I just read BBC's news about it and saw this
LONDON 2012 TEAM SPONSORS
USA - Nike
Russia - Bosco
Germany - Bogner, Adidas and Sioux
Australia - Adidas
China - Anta for the formal uniform, various sponsors for sports kit
Great for British business then 
I wonder in what way they are going to 're-mix' the National anthem this summer.
Calvin Harris is on the case it make it more Scottish
I wonder in what way they are going to 're-mix' the National anthem this summer.
Kraftwerk are doing it - well, we've got a German kit...
BTW, why is Hoy leaning on Wiggins' Dogma?
I actually quite like the kit, but not as the Olympic/National kit - it's just not that identifiable. If this was a pro-team kit I'd say it was quite classy, nicely understated. But as a national kit, I just think it lacks any national identity, and so totally misses the point.
WTF?
Maybe Stella has been taking design classes from the people who came up with the Olympic logo? 
Still, VP Would look good in anything. 
Crock of shit....wots the 'dressing gown tie' around the waist of VPs top all about.
Echo other postings...should have got Rapha and Paul Smith to design it...least PS knows what cycling is all about.
utter rollocks
As my wife just said, imagine Paris had got the Olympics, not London - and then they'd given Jean-Paul Gaultier the gig to design the kit.
Could have been interesting, if a tad impractical
Christian Lacroix could have been fun, mind...
BTW, why is Hoy leaning on Wiggins' Dogma?
Will be his. Road rides are part of his training programme. All the track team have red, white and blue Pinarello training bikes. eg: Here is Dani King out training today.
two wheels good; four wheels bad
Looks like Namibia's flag.
I really like the kit, with the exception of the pointless tracksuit belt- (thought Victoria Pendleton had taken up Judo in an attempt to outdo Rebecca Romero as a multi sport medallist).
As for sportsmen wearing red winning- I read one critique of the study which claimed the reason football teams in red win more is simply cause they can pick out their team mates better, so we should be ok now the madison's gone.
As for sportsmen wearing red winning- I read one critique of the study which claimed the reason football teams in red win more is simply cause they can pick out their team mates better, so we should be ok now the madison's gone.
The one I read about was taekwondo, where the competitors wear either red or blue vests. Judges were shown film of close bouts. What was neat was that they used video processing to swap the colours of the red and blue vests around. The judges were more likely to decide that the red competitor had won.
two wheels good; four wheels bad
Could we afford that to happen?
onward ever onward
"Get rapha to do it" really?
not all carbon is the same.
I just read BBC's news about it and saw thisLONDON 2012 TEAM SPONSORS
USA - Nike
Russia - Bosco
Germany - Bogner, Adidas and Sioux
Australia - Adidas
China - Anta for the formal uniform, various sponsors for sports kitGreat for British business then
Please correct me if Ive taken this the wrong way but were you expecting the Olympics to create a boom in the british sports apparel industry due to the supply of national kit to various global national teams?
not all carbon is the same.
Stella McCartney has really excelled herself with this range. I mean, everything else she has done with Adidas has been utter turd, but to dig so far inside herself to find the inspiration to plumb even greater depths of shitness deserves respect.
And to think, some people think she is only famous because of her dad.
Please correct me if Ive taken this the wrong way but were you expecting the Olympics to create a boom in the british sports apparel industry due to the supply of national kit to various global national teams?
Well it would have been a start, just off the top of my head
Umbro - Tracksuits, Luggage
Impsport - Cycling, Triathlon, BMX
Vandanel - Football
Milano - Gymnastics
Viga - Athletics
That would have been a good move to kit out UK guys and girls in UK brand kit?
Personally, I don't like it, but when they are stood on the top step of the podium will we care? Why do some kits have Great Britain wriiten on & others don't?
They'll win a ton of medals wearing that kit. Their competitors will be too busy puking or laughing to mount a challenge. 
What's even more humorous is that they actually expect to sell replicas of these 'fashion statements' and fund the games.
They were joking? Weren't they? I mean, really... 
It's actually Stella just looking ahead, and she has designed an outfit for Scotland's first post-independence Olympics in Rio 2016.
No, strike that.
What an utter, utter embarrassment.
Jon Burrage wrote:
Please correct me if Ive taken this the wrong way but were you expecting the Olympics to create a boom in the british sports apparel industry due to the supply of national kit to various global national teams?Well it would have been a start, just off the top of my head
Umbro - Tracksuits, Luggage
Impsport - Cycling, Triathlon, BMX
Vandanel - Football
Milano - Gymnastics
Viga - AthleticsThat would have been a good move to kit out UK guys and girls in UK brand kit?
Yes, I understand that these companies produce 'sports' kit but there has to be a level of quality and performance for olympic level athletes too. Impsport, in my opinion, is a long way short of the requirement (just to pick on one brand). You also mentioned a variety of foreign teams suggesting they should wear british made kit, why? Busineses in London will do well, businesses involved in sports that we are successful in and get coverage will do well (cycling will be one) and in that respect it is very good for UK business.
not all carbon is the same.
I actually quite like it, aesthetically. Staying with blues just about manages to avoid it looking like a British Airways tailfin or, as noted, Geri Halliwell.
Surely a study of Tae Kwondo isn't representative of other sports, since (as far as I can see) red represents a higher ability than blue - so the a contestant in red would be of a greater ability. It seems at worst eminently plausible that it's the advertised status which is influencing judgment rather than the colour itself. Would be interesting to see a similar test with figure skating or boxing.
Yes, I understand that these companies produce 'sports' kit but there has to be a level of quality and performance for olympic level athletes too. Impsport, in my opinion, is a long way short of the requirement (just to pick on one brand). You also mentioned a variety of foreign teams suggesting they should wear british made kit, why? Busineses in London will do well, businesses involved in sports that we are successful in and get coverage will do well (cycling will be one) and in that respect it is very good for UK business.
Sorry, I seem to have missed something, maybe, I don't know, not clued up on Olympic's in's and out's, are there only certain brands that all countries competing have to wear?? If thats the case, then i'm a bit off the mark.
But i didn't mention any foreign teams and what they should wear
EDIT: I shall leave what i've written above so everyone can see my foolish mistake
I am WAY wrong, the way i read it, i thought sponsors related to the GB team kit and now after going back and reading it again, four times, it's only just sunk in, those are the kit sponsors for the countries as they are listed 
there seems to be this big emphasis on there not being that much red and lots of blue and white...the gb kits have been all blue and white with a small amount of red since 96 in atlanta! i like it!
thought Victoria Pendleton had taken up Judo in an attempt to outdo Rebecca Romero as a multi sport medallist
How many people do you know that would put up a fight if VP tried to wrestle them to the ground?
BTW:
This guy would look good in it.
And check his quads
Sir Velo
there seems to be this big emphasis on there not being that much red and lots of blue and white...the gb kits have been all blue and white with a small amount of red since 96 in atlanta! i like it!
As I mentioned in the article, yes, the red has been de-emphasised in the kit for a long time. But one of the issues people have with the 2012 kit is that elements of the flag has been introduced as a central design feature, but with the colours altered.
there seems to be this big emphasis on there not being that much red and lots of blue and white...the gb kits have been all blue and white with a small amount of red since 96 in atlanta! i like it!
Yeah, but this is the wrong blue - the dark blue just isnt very distinctive.
Having seem the other kits, the flag design makes more sense, but it just doesn't work on the cycling kit - just looks like a random logo/design. Oh well.
Christ on a bike! What a mess. It's the old fashion adage 'What is familiar is trite so let's change the colours and make it new!' I would be squirming having to wear this as I'm sure plenty of athletes are. You can almost see Sir Chris's eyes rolling. As for Lord Sugar: if this was an Apprentice task Stella would be straight into the cab. The last kit was iconic and should have been lightly tinkered with. Reminds me of the BA tail fin fiasco, the first and last time I agreed with Thatcher on anything.
MercuryOne
I like it – looks great – there's a war on.... 
After looking at it again big screen I can see it could be worse. Aqua and red just don't work well. Compare the way the Italians dress their train staff and Police in red,black,silver and white with our bobbies in baggy woolly jumpers and Underground staff in aqua and you'll see how the Italians understand colour psychology better than Stella does. We keep dragging out pale blue and pastels and expect them to garner respect.
We have Macca show boating at the opening ceremony as well so it's a McCartney 1-2.
I would have had Paul Smith design the outfits and David Bowie descending on a crane in his Ziggy suit singing Heroes for the opening. Class all the way. 
MercuryOne
No sorry stella but dosen't do it for me.. 
No sorry stella but dosen't do it for me..
I like VP's jacket (apart from the belt) but the cycling gear is dull and boring!
what a disaster ,awful.Chris Hoy looks like his shirt has been patched up with a tea towel and VP'S tracksuit looks like a reject outfit from a crap sci fi film .
Just because your dad was famous does not mean you should get the right to shove your crap ideas on the rest of us.lets be honest shes a rubbish designer.
Paul smith should have designed the cycling clothes
You've got a famous name. We have the second most famous flag in the world (after USA). We want to take advantage of this global opportunity to promote our country. We'll pay you a fortune to do what you want. We'll take whatever you produce over your lunch hour even if it looks sh*t.
Oh how I love the British way of doing business!
I like the new design. But the only reason they used Stella (and Adidas to a certain extent) is because they're 'down with the kids' and they'll sell more replicas.
Are you a Chav if you wear the Team GB cycling kit for your weekend ride?
Get off the computer and onto the bike.
I like the new design. But the only reason they used Stella (and Adidas to a certain extent) is because they're 'down with the kids' and they'll sell more replicas.
Are you a Chav if you wear the Team GB cycling kit for your weekend ride?
Nah, all the chavs are wearing Rapha these days, only people who can afford it are the dole bums
I prefer Stella in liquid form, straight from the fridge, real cool.
antonio
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