Women have been competing in the Olympics for more than 100 years. They competed for the first time in the 1900 Paris Olympics. According to www.olympic.org of 997 athletes, 22 were women. They competed in five sports including tennis, sailing, and croquet.
At the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio, there are estimated to be 11,520 athletes competing and more than 45% of them are women – so about 5,000 women. Quite a change since 1900.
What hasn’t changed enough is that women athletes are still described by their age, appearance, and marital status rather than their athletic accomplishments. When Hungarian swimmer Katinka Hosszu set a new world record in the 400 meter individual medley – the camera swung to her husband and a commentator said “…there’s the person responsible for her performance.” What?
Sure – good coaching is important, but no one swims it but you. Read more.
As more women play sports, I hope these attitudes will change. Have you experienced challenges as you’ve competed in your sport or just joined a backyard volleyball game? You can tell us about it in the comment section or visit us on Facebook.