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Cortina D'Ampezzo - Tina Maze's message was written on her sports bra for all to see: "Not your business."
The Slovenian skier Maze stripped down to her sports bra on Sunday to explain her feelings about her controversial long underwear, which sparked a protest from the Swiss team last weekend.
The three words were written in black marker on Maze's white bra, which she showed off for the TV cameras while briefly waiting in the leader's box during Sunday's World Cup super-G race. She eventually finished third.
"It's just for fun. Girls like to have fun - it's the song also," Maze said, referring to the 1983 Cyndi Lauper hit, "Girls just want to have fun."
"I like to have fun also," Maze said. "The first thing important for me is to ski fast and I was skiing fast, then I can joke also a little bit about myself, about everything around me."
The Swiss protested after Maze finished second in a super-G last weekend in Bad Kleinkircheim, Austria, saying the plastic level in Maze's one-piece garment exceeded International Ski Federation (FIS) rules, giving her an aerodynamic edge.
"Last week this thing was pretty popular so yesterday I joked in my room with my underwear and I wrote this, which said it's not your business what I'm wearing (for) underwear because underwear is one thing and under race suit is another thing," Maze said. "I just want to make clear what's one thing and what's the other."
The FIS issued a statement on Saturday saying the garment had passed permeability tests, but recommended racers not to use it because it could prevent the body from breathing.
Maze said she was wearing a different garment for this race, since the FIS has still not given her back the controversial one after taking it away for tests.
The Italian team also uses the undergarment, which is made by the Italian company Energia Pura.
"I really don't understand now if I can use it or not," Maze said. "If it's all OK, if the factory explained that it's not plastic, that it's (a) normal under-suit, it shouldn't be blocked. I hope we will get an answer - yes or no."
