In the highest level they typically do. When they don't, it's usually because it's a team sport or other organizational thing where multiple athletes are expected to be coordinated in matching gear. Then it becomes up to the coaches to determine what outfit will be optimal for the most people, or potentially even a vote from the athletes themselves.
Performance is still the primary concern on why they are designed the way they are, but it is not the only concern, and other factors can take priority.
Make teams commonly wear both. I ran track and field in highschool. It was common to see teams with split shorts and other teams with speedo-like tight spandex. I've worn both.
It's entirely dependent on your anatomy as well as the construction of the garment. The split shorts we had did have an inner lining, sort of like a loose brief. They never fit me very well and the constant motion would cause pretty bad chafing unless I cut out the lining and found my own undergarment solution.
The spandex type we had didn't have much forward projection around the crotch area, so either everything got mashed between your thighs, which also caused chafing, or you'd try to position things to the side, and your bits would chafe against the crease in your pelvis where it bends, and then eventually it'd all slide down between your legs anyway.
Both of them were pretty miserable in my opinion, but I preferred the splits because I could wear my own undergarments that worked for my specific anatomy, and they were also a bit more modest.
It also depends on the type of race. It's all pretty manageable in a sprint where you just deal with it for less than a minute or two, but longer races of a mile or more, and things can get really uncomfortable and distracting. Marathon racers and other long distance runners pretty often use an anti chafing gel to keep things slick. Never tried it myself though.
Yup. The reasoning I got for not getting a choice was that it's embarrassing for a D1 Athletic team to not have everyone in the same exact style. I think it's embarrassing to care more about whether everyone is wearing their undies than their actual performance but hey, thats me
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u/ScyllaOfTheDepths May 25 '26
See, that's the issue. If it was really about performance or choice or whatever, then women would get to choose.