Adidas' Team GB Olympic kit is blasted for being 'basic' and 'unimaginative': It's a let down

Adidas have been blasted for producing a 'basic' and 'unimaginative' Team GB kit for the Olympics in Paris later this year. 

The design is described as being 'grounded in simplicity', with a white base and traditional Union Jack flag on the arm. Other kits have a red or blue base. 

Their play-it-safe release comes a month after Nike were hammered for a 'playful' update to St George's Cross on England's Euros kit. Nike had replaced the horizonal line on the traditional red cross with a navy blue, light blue and pink one. They were similarly criticised for their Olympic merchandise. 

And many think this backlash has led to Adidas bringing out a rather boring kit for the Olympics. 

'Team GB’s 2024 Olympics kits are a let down compared to past few ranges, particularly Tokyo which was outstanding. The Paris kits are the definition of unadventurous,' one user wrote on X, formerly Twitter. 

'NOTHING inspiring about this , really disappointed! It’s so basic and unimaginative………. basic budget?' another said. 

'Definitely a rushed alternative after the backlash of everything else,' one wrote. 

Earlier this month, Nike also suffered a massive backlash for their sale of Olympic merchandise to fans which were called union jack flags but were pink and purple with dots and squiggly lines.

Bath-based agency Thisaway, who came up with the concept, said they wanted to 'find a way of refreshing Team GB's colour palette' because it was 'far from unique', prompting a backlash from politicians and the public.

Former British athlete Fatima Whitbread said she was 'absolutely disgusted' by the new merchandise because the Union Jack 'represents everything that embraces what's good about our country as years have gone by'.

Jacqueline King, Design Director, Specialist Sports, Adidas, said about the newly launched kit: 'Our belief is that there is no greater demonstration of what it means to design for an athlete, than a tournament that showcases the breadth and variety of sport. 

'Alongside the goal of supporting the athlete to perform at their best when the pressure builds, these collections seek to connect them to their home nations, via designs inspired by their individual national identities.

'These elements are brought together in a kit which is grounded in simplicity – resulting in a sleek, modern collection.'

The kit will use a typeface inspired by the 1924 Games in Paris 100 years ago when Harold Abrahams and Eric Liddell won gold medals, according to The Telegraph. 

Gymnast Max Whitlock and divers Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix and Tom Daley are among those who were photographed modelling the new kit. 

The new launch which is aimed to allow athletes to 'participate in comfort, and without distraction' is in stark contrast to the Team USA kit, which includes a high-cut leotard that was slammed as sexist by some athletes.

It follows the backlash over the pink and purple flag controversy which Team GB insisted would not feature on their kit.

That Team GB flag furore came just a fortnight after the backlash over the new Nike England football shirt, which changed the colour of the red St George's Cross on the back of the collar.

Whitbread, who won two Olympic medals in the javelin, told GB News at the time: 'I'm absolutely disgusted to think they've done it. It represents our late Queen. It represents everything that embraces what's good about our country as years have gone by.

'I feel strongly about that. No way should they have just gone ahead and changed the country's symbolic colours. It is about national pride and unity.

'Red, white, and blue, it has been that for 223 years, so why change it? Why is there a need to change it just because of other countries?

'Our forefathers went to war for us and fought for all the different things that we stand for now, that shouldn't just be wiped out either. A Union Jack is what it's all about for me - and it should be for those younger ones.' 

Explaining the concept at the time, Thisaway said: 'Obviously red, white and blue is synonymous with Great Britain, but it's far from unique, with other competing nations such as France and USA also sporting the same colours.

'We needed to find a way of refreshing Team GB's colour palette in a way that is both flexible and ownable.

'Rather than trying to look beyond the traditional colours, we decided to embrace them and push the iconic red white and blue as far as we could.

'The result is a vibrant and varied colour palette that has the versatility to be restrained and traditional in one breath, and bold and contemporary in the next.'