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Women in Sports

By : Sejal Batra


Tokyo Olympics 2020 was a record setting event for athletes all over the world including India. With 7 medals in hand, (1 gold ,2 silver and 4 bronze) ,our athletes made the whole nation proud.


From breaking records in hockey to winning a medal in athletics, our athletes didn’t leave any stone unturned to bring honor to the country. Not just for India, Tokyo Olympics 2020, was a milestone in the history of sports in numerous ways. This was the first time that 5 major countries sent more female athletes than male athletes for the Olympics.


Also the IOC (International committee for Olympics) even predicted that the Tokyo Olympics could be the first “gender balanced” game constituting a ratio of 51 % men and 49% women players and thus the Tokyo Olympics became a trend setter.

But what exactly was the journey towards this balance in sports?

What are the challenges that young female athletes still face today?


These are some of the vital questions that should be taken up primarily to keep this trend going on. Let’s dig deep and try to answer and contemplate these questions.


History of women in sports


It is incredible how far women have come and women in sports have come

-Jennie Finch


We have seen a rise in numbers of female athletes in the last 100 years, Not just in other countries but even in India. I would not hesitate to say that some of the major ruling female athletes in our country have set foot on the podium even before our male athletes. From the Olympics to the world-cup we all have seen some remarkable performances given by these players throughout the world. But was this victory easy to achieve?


I would say not really. Infact women were not even allowed in the Ancient Summer Olympics, neither as a player nor as a spectator. There were signs painted that said “WOMEN NOT ALLOWED”. A death penalty was to be given to any women who even tried to attend the games as spectators.


The International Olympic Committee (IOC) founder Pierre de Coubertin described women's sports as "impractical and ,uninteresting:

Female participation in Olympics was not allowed till 1900.Various reasons for not allowing women in sports and events like Olympics were given by sports council members and general public like women being unfit for any strenuous activity that required stamina and strength.


Sports for women before the 20th century focused more on just fitness leaving aside the competitive aspects of it that we now associate with sports.

Very few women competed in sports in continents like Europe and North America before the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Even though women were allowed to participate in many sports, very few women actually took part because of the disapproval faced by the ones that actually did.


Later on the Fédération Sportive Féminine Internationale was founded in France by Alice Milliat to increase the support towards participation of women in sport .They initiated events like Women’s Olympiad Women’s World games. Eventually the IOC began to include women participants.

This lead to increase in participation of women up to 5 folds.

Over the last 50 -100 years, participation of women and girls in sports has skyrocketed and have made significant progress. Today a lot of girls from all over the world compete at professional sports and make their respective countries proud.


Challenges faced Today:

Even though women now participate in almost every sport and education has really improved the scenario, the challenges faced by female athletes despite all this cannot be denied or ignored. Sports is still defined as a masculine activity at various places putting women athletes at a position of judgement in many eyes. But this norm has also been challenged by well-known players like the great “Phogat Family”.


Their daughters or I would like to say the daughters of our country proved that there is no such thing as masculine in any sports. They raised a very powerful question for the whole society that “If the sport does not differentiate between men and women then who are we to do so?”.


Pay gap in female and male athletes does exist today as well and agreeing or disagreeing to this would not really change facts and figures. Not just this, funds given for female athletes and male athletes also vary. Even nowadays women's sports events are streamed less as compared to male events, this also impacts the female players.


As hard as it is to believe, parental and societal pressure also impacts the choices of women who do want to pursue sports as a career. Despite us having a lot of female athletes in India and throughout the world, not every parent is ready to put their daughters in sports. We do have the example of our six time World Champion M.C Mary Kom ,who did not get her father’s support in her early career.

Lastly I would want to leave you guys with a quote given by Mary Kom, that raises a question to ponder over:


“People used to say boxing is for men and not for women .But I thought I will show them someday and I proved myself ”


Now the question that arises is why did she or any other athlete had to prove her mettle in the field to justify her decision ,or to be able to make a choice for her career which is the basic right of freedom, being able to make a choice for one’s own self ?

Also every parent wants their daughter to be like Saina and Sindhu, but are they really ready to put in the efforts and hard work that their parents did?


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3 comentarios


Aryan Chaudhary
Aryan Chaudhary
31 ago 2021

Great article 👍


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simrang1211
29 ago 2021

yes.. very true

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shambhavi dixit
shambhavi dixit
29 ago 2021

Beautifully written 😊

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