As a teenager I spent a lot of time surrounded by older men in spandex. Concerned?Don’t be. I wasn’t frequenting sex fetish shops. I hung out with cyclists and triathletes.

My older brother is an avid cyclist-turned-triathlete and I still remember the day he donned his first pair of spandex. He was so skinny that they hung loosely off his legs.

From there things got worse. The more he trained, the tighter his shorts got. The more races he entered, the more opportunities I got to see men and women of all shapes and ages squeeze themselves into those little shorts.

Some triathletes were in fine shape, and while I didn’t find their spandex attractive, I didn’t lose my breakfast over it. Other triathletes – the ones with kegs instead of six-packs – were a different story. I could have lived happily without seeing them tightly wrapped in the least-forgiving fabric.

Imagine Pete Griffin in spandex underwear. A less than pleasant image, right? That’s what my weekends consisted of.

As a teenage girl with typical body image issues it was incomprehensible to me how some athletes could walk around so exposed without a thought to their rolls and paunches. Not only did they appear oblivious to their appearances but also to what outsiders might think.

Certainly, large groups of spandex-sporting men and women would cause outsiders to raise an eyebrow. But these triathletes weren’t concerned.

Being born without an ounce of athletic ability meant it took quite a few weekends of spandex watching for me to realize what enabled this phenomenon to occur.

These men and women are athletes. They spend hours in intense training, sustaining themselves on protein bars. They aren’t trying to make a fashion statement. They’re there to compete. They will do anything to win even if that means exposing their love handles.

Spandex is another tool for victory. It wicks away sweat and shaves off hundredths, maybe even tenths, of a second. That may not seem like much, but when the difference between a gold medal and no medal in the Olympic downhill skiing event was 0.21 seconds, a little spandex makes all the difference.

Showing off less than perfect bodies is another sacrifice athletes make for the sport they love.

Sure, some of them probably like the way they look. I know my brother didn’t mind parading around the house in his tiny outfit. But I doubt they would wear it out on a date.

It is their battle armor and they wear it the only way one can wear battle armor – proudly.