CHAIR of the British Athletes’ Commission Karen Pickering has given her backing to the Stella McCartney-designed kit that will be worn by Great Britain’s athletes at this summer’s Olympics.

The release received mixed reviews last week with three-time Olympic champion cyclist, Bradley Wiggins, among the doubters.

However, Pickering, who represented Great Britain as a swimmer in four successive Olympics – beginning in 1992 – believes the kit will see the Team GB squad be more prominent than in past Games.

“There are some people who are very traditional and want to see more red, white and blue but, apart from maybe an embroidered Union Jack flag or latterly, a lion, what has there been on the GB kit to differentiate it from other countries’ such as France, USA and Croatia in past Olympics?, said Pickering.

“I think this kit will stand out massively, especially with the addition of the flag on the front of the kit, which isn’t normally featured so large.”

Concerns have been raised about the amount of blue and lack of red in the Union Jack flag which is displayed on the front of the kit.

“There are some people who believe there should be more red in the kit and I can assure them that has not been forgotten,” said Pickering.

“As chair of the British Athletes Commission, I have seen the designs for the kit right from the start and watched it grow.

“We always stressed that it was quite important there should be plenty of red on the collars and cuffs and on some of the kits, the flag is in different shades of red as opposed to the different shades of blue.”