A female triathlete has hit back at a critic who pointed out her period blood stain on her suit.
British athlete Emma Pallant-Browne finished fourth in The Professional Triathletes Organisation’s European Open held in Ibiza earlier this month.
She proceeded to post a photo on social media to celebrate her performance in the race, with the image showing the athlete's blood stain on the crotch area of her suit.
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“Celebrating the amazing women in sport and the equally amazing men who champion them,” she shared with her 46,000 followers.
Pallant-Browne added: “Humbled by the amount of messages I’ve had from both men and women (I am going to give menstrual cups another go) about the unglamorous reality of racing on your period.”
However, the athlete said she had chosen to share the image to remove the stigma around menstruation.
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Pallant-Brown said that she refused to ‘edit’ the stain out of the image as it conveys ‘there is something wrong with it’.
“A lot of the photos you can’t see anything, pouring water over yourself at aid stations does the trick and if it doesn’t you end up with one photo like this but the idea to edit it means there is something wrong with it,” she said.
She acknowledged that while she had darker suits to conceal her period stain, she opted to wear her lighter suit to ‘experiment for the cooling effect’.
“If you wrote to me saying 99 per cent of the women you know would be mortified at this then that is exactly why I am sharing this, because there really is nothing wrong. It's natural and coming from eating issues as an endurance runner when I was growing up where I didn’t have my period, I now see it as beautiful,” she continued.
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However, not everyone was amused by Pallant-Browne’s efforts, as one person commented: "Not the most flattering photo of Em Pallant – surely you can crop it a bit better.”
The athlete who has won 18 half Ironman championships, podiumed 33 times and claimed silver in the world championships clapped back instantly.
“Thanks for caring but definitely something I’m not shy to talk about because it’s the reality of females in sport,” she wrote.
Many rallied behind the athlete, praising her for removing the shame around periods.
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One person said: “What an absolute warrior, I'd be curled up on a couch with a hot water bottle keeping me sane. Well done you superstar.”
While another commented: “You’re living your life @em_pallant and a fantastic role model too.”
Featured Image Credit: Instagram/professionaltriathletesorg. Instagram/Emma Pallant-BrowneTopics: Social Media, Sport, News, UK News