Long-Overdue Praise for the Running Singlet

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In the last decade, the running singlet—once reserved for amateur competitors and professional athletes—has gone mainstream not only on race day but also on everyday runs. Apparel brands like Tracksmith, Rabbit, and Bandit have established themselves as purveyors of the competitive runner’s uniform. Tracksmith in particular has adapted “amateur” as a keyword embedded into its brand, underscoring the word’s Latin roots—amator means lover—and that we’re all lovers of our sport.

To celebrate the seemingly simple garment, we spoke with these brands about the singlet’s timelessness, its purpose, and why it’s more than a glorified tank top.

Race Day Is Sacred

“There is a huge psychological component to race day and the things that we wear,” said Tracksmith founder and CEO Matt Taylor on a video call with Runner’s World. “There are some performance attributes that you want, but I think the primary one is you just don’t want to notice it at all. That’s a weird thing to say, but if you race and you never think about your singlet once, that’s a great singlet.”

Tracksmith’s Van Cortlandt Singlet was one of the first products the brand launched when it was founded in 2014. The singlet’s sash is inspired by a mix of influences, shares Taylor.

The sash’s storied history actually begins from a personal experience in Taylor’s life. He had found his father-in-law’s old high school singlet with a sewn-on sash from the 1960s.

“It was just so beautiful, like an artifact,” Taylor said.

Taylor explains how the singlet is a part of your race day ritual.

“We always talk about how race day is sacred,” he said. “Everything builds up to this moment. Everything you do on that day is thought out, whether it’s when you eat, what you eat, what your warmup is, how you get to the starting line, what you wear, all of those things. Runners are very routine-driven, and there’s a routine on race day. The singlet is the thing you pin your number on; it has this importance to a runner that most other items of clothing do not.”

He described the singlet as a timeless piece, the shape instantly recognizable.

One brand whose logo has graced many an athlete’s chest during running’s most pivotal moments is Nike.

The Swoosh

The Nike Swoosh has become synonymous with major track-and-field events because of the brand’s partnership with USATF, which began in 1991. Before the Swoosh, Nike cofounder Bill Bowerman coached University of Oregon track star Steve Prefontaine, whose college singlet and USA Olympics singlet are deeply embedded into our track nerd minds and Nike lore.

In the past couple of years, we’ve witnessed Nike-sponsored athletes breaking barriers in the brand’s Swoosh’d tops. In 2019, Eliud Kipchoge broke two hours in the marathon running in a stark white Nike singlet on a specially designed course in Vienna. His official world record (2:01:09, Berlin 2022) was broken at the 2023 Chicago Marathon by fellow Nike-sponsored athlete Kelvin Kiptum (2:00:35), who wore Nike’s Kenya singlet.

Of all the things Kiptum wore that day, the Alphafly 3 shoes were his most talked-about gear. But a singlet can make or break a race, too.

Constructed correctly, a flowy but functional singlet should be the quintessence of comfort. Designing a singlet goes beyond the circumference of its armholes and height of its neckline. Workers in the Nike Sport Research Lab, for instance, study how athletes move across time and space, taking into account breathability, mobility, and containment.

The product team works closely with athletes to inform the fit of Nike’s styles. The team starts by getting insights from key distance-running athletes on what has or hasn’t worked well for them in past singlet iterations. These insights inform the design brief, and any pattern changes they’d want to incorporate in a design update.

Nike’s Dri-Fit Adv AeroSwift Singlet is an example of how the product team meets athletes’ needs via research. Through its Fit Advanced system, the team uses digital design and wear-testing to body-map vulnerable areas prone to overheating. Data from these observations can be seen on the Dri-Fit Adv Singlet (made of 100 percent polyester), which is speckled with perforations that are especially concentrated down the back and front, and across the chest. Nike uses fit models, as well, to scale the singlet’s silhouette across different body types. Through wear-testing, Nike ensures that the silhouette can withstand rigorous wear and washes.

Aspects of this apparel design process aren’t limited to Nike. West Coast-based running apparel brand Rabbit approaches singlet ideation in a similar manner.

Can You Call It a Jersey?

We asked brands if the words “singlet” and “jersey” are interchangeable. Some vehemently rejected the notion that they were one and the same.

Paul Yeh, Rabbit product manager, with a laugh:

“Unless the fabric is a jersey knit, then I would not consider it a jersey. For example, our Race Pace Tank is a woven material, so I would not consider it a jersey.”

Ardith Singh, Bandit cofounder and chief design officer:

“I would never use those interchangeably. Ever, ever, ever. To me, a singlet is more specific. I think it probably has less coverage than a jersey. I don’t think of a jersey in the sport of running. It denotes other sports. It’s not running. I also don’t think of a jersey as necessarily something that’s super lightweight.”

Tim Rossi, Bandit brand marketer:

“To Ardith’s exact point [about jerseys], I play football, basketball, soccer—those are the things that come to mind. With jerseys, I think of a double layer, something a little thicker. A singlet, I think, has less fabric, it’s lighter weight, sleeker.”

Matt Taylor, Tracksmith founder and CEO:

“Having just lived in London for a year, I’m over it. They call it a vest. Obviously to us, a vest is like a totally different thing. So I’m over what you call it. I think it’s fine. To me it’s the thing that you’re only pulling out on race day, whether you call it a vest, singlet, a jersey. But yeah, jersey definitely comes from team sports. It’s like your soccer jersey, your basketball jersey.”

What Feels Comfortable

On a recent video call, Rabbit product manager Paul Yeh listed the characteristics his team looks for when developing a singlet: softness, good wicking, no chafing, print compatibility, and weight. Most of these are self-explanatory: Runners want a racing uniform to be comfy, be lightweight, have ventilation, and be free of any features that may cause friction. In terms of print compatibility, Yeh explains how logo printing on some fabrics can come out too stiff or too glossy. Considering all of these issues, this is why polyester or a poly-spandex blend is more often used than other fabrics. Polyester is thin, light, and, unlike cotton, moisture-wicking.

Once these qualities are checked off, samples are sent to runners for field testing, making sure these problems are taken care of before the design is finalized.

“Fit-wise for runners, we know that we don’t want loose fabric just hanging while running,” Yeh said. “When you use too much fabric, it just chafes, it scratches you. So we want something that’s tight. That’s fitting—but not too tight.”

Lengthwise, Yeh continued, you want the seam to ideally hit the top of your shorts with maybe an inch of extra coverage. “We call that race length when you don’t want it to be too long where it covers down like half your butt, but you also don’t want it too, too short when you’re showing belly, because not everybody likes that.”

Founded in 2013 by Jill Deering and Monica DeVreese in Santa Monica, California, Rabbit’s design has a chill West Coast culture vibe with a mission to suit up a running community of dreamers. Of Rabbit’s several singlets, the PR Collection’s Speedeez singlet and Dream Chaser Collection’s Race Pace Tank are specifically designed for goal-setting because of their light weight compared to the brand’s other tops, such as the ultrasoft EZ Tank, which is more tailored for everyday training.

Besides functionality and comfort, there are also competition guidelines brands must follow if their athletes are competing at the professional level.

Rules and Regulations

During the balmy men’s marathon at the Rio Olympics in 2016, Galen Rupp took third place running in a holey Nike singlet. If you’re wondering why he and other men don’t just race topless, it’s because they’re following racing guidelines. Essentially, the singlet serves as a placeholder to affix your bib (race number).

According to the World Athletics Book of Rules: “Every athlete shall be provided with two bibs which, during the competition, shall be worn visibly on the front of the torso and back, except in the jumping events, where one bib may be worn on the front of the torso or back only.”

There’s also a set of rules for logo placement on singlets, which slightly differ depending on the governing body; e.g., World Athletics, USATF, United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee, and the International Olympic Committee.

USATF’s Commercial Markings Athlete Guidelines are as follows:

Club logos can be slightly bigger in size at 40cm², with maximum lettering height at 4cm and its placement one time on the front on the right chest, and one time on the back side with no restriction in width.

These rules can be murky, however. A YouTube video uploaded in 2012 by Sally Bergesen, founder of women’s running apparel brand Oiselle, shows the brand had to go through six rounds of redesigning a singlet, each round resulting in a smaller logo and near-invisible bird graphic. Even though athletes challenged the USATF’s logo restrictions around the time this video was recorded, not much has changed, Bergesen said, despite these efforts.

Competing with a logo gives runners the opportunity to represent their sponsor or club, but not all runners who compete at the professional level are attached to a brand. Brooklyn-based company Bandit launched the Sponsored Project to help aspiring pro runners get noticed at the 2023 USATF Outdoor Championships.

Most Memorable USA Singlets

Here’s a list of the most notable singlets worn by running’s icons, along with some of the incredible feats they performed wearing them. Just don’t @ us, Team Sports Bra!

1936

In his USA Olympics singlet, Jesse Owens wins gold in the 100-meter dash in the Olympics in Nazi Germany.

1940s to 1970s

Ted Corbitt wore his New York Pioneers Club singlet throughout his racing career.

1964

Before Blue Ribbon Sports was Nike, Prefontaine wore his Oregon colors as he dominated the 5,000 meter.

1983

In her red and white Athletics West Nike singlet, Joan Benoit Samuelson broke Boston’s course record and the world record only a day after it was broken by Grete Waitz.

1984

Carl Lewis won four gold medals in the Olympics, including the 100 meter, 200 meter, long jump, and 4 x 100-meter relay. He wore a striking red USA Olympics singlet.

2012

Finishing second in the Olympic Marathon Trials (and repeating the same finish in the 2016 trials), Des (Davila) Linden stepped onto the finisher’s podium wearing her Hansons-Brooks singlet next to fellow champions—wearing sports bras—Shalane Flanagan and Kara Goucher.

2023

Emily Sisson broke the American marathon record at the Chicago Marathon (2:18:29) in New Balance.

Unsponsored

Originally a running socks brand, Bandit was founded by Tim West in 2020. The brand eventually relaunched with a head-to-toe catalog of running performance apparel in 2022.

“Portland has Nike. You’ve got Tracksmith and New Balance in Boston. But there was no brand that we felt that had really planted their flag squarely in New York City. And that seemed insane,” said Bandit cofounder and chief design officer Ardith Singh, who teamed up with West and his brother, Nick, during the brand’s relaunch. “This is the global running hub: New York City and the New York City Marathon. There should be a brand that feels unapologetically New York City.”

Bandit’s apparel has a sleek, urban, almost metallic look. It’s an aesthetic Singh calls “elevated simplicity.” It also rejects Yeh’s classification of a singlet, offering cropped styles that expose the belly.

“I saw men in our crop at the New York City Marathon,” said Singh.

Bandit’s Program gave unsigned runners an opportunity to be noticed at the USATF Outdoor Championships.

“We were like, ‘How are we going to be able to support athletes to represent themselves on the highest level so that they can go out there and potentially earn a brand deal?’” said Tim Rossi, Bandit’s brand marketer. “We don’t want to stand in the way of traditional big players, like Nike or Adidas, coming in and supporting an athlete. But we wanted to enable people to potentially pursue the best version of themselves.”

The muted black singlets Bandit distributed to runners easily signaled to brands that athletes competing in events were free agents.

The no-logo Bandit singlet is just one example of how a garment can inspire you to perform your best on race day. It can also express your identity as a runner, helping you feel self-possessed as you toe the line.

It’s About Confidence

For women runners who compete, wearing cropped tops, sports bras, or race briefs can either be empowering or cause discomfort. What we wear when we compete should help put athletes in the competitive mindset, not distract them from performing optimally because they feel self-conscious. This is why the option to wear a singlet can be freeing, especially for trans-athletes like Lululemon-sponsored pro runner Nikki Hiltz, who wears the brand’s singlet and shorts.

“Competing well is all about confidence,” said Hiltz through a Lululemon rep. “When I stand on the starting line, I want to be able to feel my best and like the most powerful version of myself. Some days, wearing split shorts makes me feel confident and other days it’s a crop top that shows my abs. I love that Lululemon gives me the option to choose which uniform to compete in, because I’m able to show up as myself to every race. It’s also fun to show more of my personality, style, and gender expression through my race kit.

“There’s nothing better than feeling super confident and comfortable on the starting line. I usually decide the week going into a race which style/color I want to wear. I’ll try on a couple of options, show my partner and ask her opinion, and then commit to the one that makes me feel the most excited.”

Looking Ahead

Brands have already planned out their race kits months before the new year. Nike, for instance, started the design work for the Paris 2024 kit as far back as 2021, after getting Tokyo 2020 kit feedback from its athletes.

The Nike product team began by designing the base chassis (the singlet silhouette). Once that was set, the team used that design template to customize colors, graphics, and club- and country-specific prints. The team listens to athletes, as well as national governing bodies, to hear what they want their uniforms to look like going into an Olympic year.

Tracksmith continues to assist Olympic hopefuls through its Amateur Support Program, where elite amateurs can apply for on-the-ground support, race kits, and race-expense coverage. At the 2020 trials, 20 percent of runners were suited up in a Tracksmith kit in its effort to support unsponsored runners. The brand showcased its 2024 OTQ Strata kits (Olympic Trials Qualifier) at the Olympic Marathon Trials in Orlando, Florida.

Since September 2022, Bandit has been helping athletes through its OTQ Program, which is set up to prepare runners during the 18 months leading up to the Olympic Marathon Trials. At press time, Singh revealed that the brand was in talks with a small country to create its Olympic uniforms after another sponsor pulled out.

Rabbit is releasing a new PR Collection and will be debuting singlets representing every World Marathon Major next year. The brand will also kick off a new singlets collection inspired by states’ flags.

As illustrated by these brands, the singlet is a canvas that simultaneously serves as a form of self-expression and team spirit. Shoe tech continues to evolve, shorts are getting more pockets, but the singlet’s silhouette endures.

Shop the Singlets We Wrote About

Drift Performance Singlet

Fast and Free Race Length Tank Top

Dri-FIT ADV AeroSwift Racing Singlet

Van Cortlandt Singlet

Go Time Singlet

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