Some say it has given the athlete an unfair advantage
People have been questioning why a gold medal winner was allowed to compete in the Paris 2024 Olympics with her long yellow painted nails.
The strange observation came from one keen-eyed viewer who took to reddit to question why Australian swimmer Ariarne Titmus was allowed to have such long nails in the pool.
The user claimed that having the nails was giving the swimmer an unfair advantage allowing for the Australian to activate the pressure pad at the finish line under the water faster than usual.
They wrote: “How are fingernails like this allowed. I’ve seen how close the races have been.”
Although many people echoed this sentiment, others were quick to jokingly respond to the comment.
One user replied: “While she gets more grab with the nails she handicapped it with yellow: everyone knows red is the fastest color”
While another person wrote: “That’s a banned PED. Performance enhancing decorations.”
Some people were even digging into the physics behind the matter at hand.
One user said: “Physicist wannabe here, blue is faster due to light wavelength characteristics. Debatable as McQueen is red colored.”
To which another replied: “All light travels at the speed of light in a vacuum, and red light actually travels faster than blue in water as its index of refraction is lower, but blue does have a higher frequency and penetrates deeper than red in water, I’ll give you that”
However, one former swimmer put the rumour to bed, explaining why there is no advantage to be gained.
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They said: “I swam all through highs school with acrylics and you do not wanna be finishing with the tips of your fingernails. Aside from as others have said there’s not enough pressure to activate the plate, jamming your finger into the wall nails first HURTS.”
World Aquatics competion regulations state that: No swimmer shall be permitted to use or wear any device or swimsuit that may aid his/her speed, buoyancy or endurance during a competition (such as webbed gloves, flippers, fins, power bands, or adhesive substances, etc.).
However, it is clear that the consensus goes that there is no advantage to be gained from growing long nails, or wearing long acrylics.
Titmus shocked the world over a week ago as she took gold in the women’s 400m freestyle, beating legendary American swimmer Katie Ledecky to the win.
The 23-year old has had a stellar games, winning two golds and two silvers for Australia at Paris 2024.
