Women in Olympics

There was a time when sports were a “men-only” thing. It used to be a sign of their prowess. Just the activities boys get involved in. But then the Olympics of 1900 happened and it broke the cliché. In the 1900 Paris Games, women participated in lawn tennis and golf. Just like an avalanche, women kept heading on (though without destroying anything, except for sports records). Now, the sports industry has a ton of female athletes to gloat about. Be it gymnastics, swimming, wrestling, boxing or any other game. You name it. Women are breaking records, making new ones. So, is everything in perfect order now? Not quite. There still are some deterrents. There is a class of young women who have financial constraints. They simply cannot help themselves get the exposure to their talents. Government funding to promote female participation in sports should be a priority based agenda. Another issue is the personal safety. For the majority of women, it gets pretty difficult to adjust to the traditionally male-dominated spaces. Training at gyms, for example. And then comes the body image. The way a girl relates herself to her body. Femininity is quite immersed with the term delicacy in our social narrative. So, even now, a lot of girls think that sports are not for them.

However, the bright side is that things are progressing. Once women did not participate in sports, and now they do. One day, it will get even better. Because we have so many sportswomen to inspire us. Here is one name: Natalie Coughlin. Who is not inspired of her? This lady has twelve Olympic Gold Medals to her name in the 100-meter backstroke swimming category. She became the first woman to ever swim 100-meter in less than a minute. In 2008, she became the only woman in the modern Olympic history to win 6 Medals in one Olympiad. It can be hoped that she is going to pull the young, talented women to the sports’ arena. Another long-lasting misconception is that a woman who does something other than only chores, will find it hard to live a peaceful and stable private life. It just is not so. Look at Natalie. She holds a medal in that category too. Married since 2009, she lives a happy contented life of a woman who happens to love cooking as well. How much diverse successes can a person claim irrespective of their gender, this woman tells us. In 2015, she became an investor in a frozen food company, Luvo Inc.

Female participation in Olympics begs the question of what do women get from getting actively involved in sports. Everything. These are not just sports. They represent a collective thought of a society. If you have a place to compete, you sure have the chance to succeed. Women have to understand that when they win gold at Olympics, they send a message that they are able to accept any challenge; that they do not fear stressful and daring tasks; and the most important: that they are competitive.