Of the 329 medal events at the Paris Olympics, 157 were men’s events, 152 were women’s events, and 20 were mixed-gender events. These numbers represent the inclusive nature of modern sports, truly remarkable compared to 1896, when there were no events for women. Women were considered to be too fragile; or they might become muscular and unattractive.
When President Richard Nixon signed Title IX in 1972, he mostly spoke about desegregation and busing, but it also expanded educational access for women in athletics. After that law, the U.S. was gifted with Jackie Joyner-Kersee —considered by many to be the greatest female athlete of all time. She was followed by Serena Williams and Venus Williams, Katie Ledecky, Simone Biles, Mia Hamm, and Naperville’s Candace Parker, who out-dunked the boys.
Would they have gotten the chance without Title IX?
When I was a junior in high school, I wanted to take PE as an elective after the two-year requirement, but I was denied. The PE program had numerous offerings for boys, but besides cheerleading and majorettes, there were not enough sports offered for girls.
Women faced an uphill battle getting into sports. Katherine Switzer famously crashed the Boston Marathon in 1967. The enraged race director tried to rip her numbers off, but she finished the race.
President Nixon signed Title IX the same year that women were officially allowed to run in the Boston Marathon. The women’s marathon wasn’t introduced in the Olympics until 1984.
I recommend the 2024 film, Young Woman and the Sea, the Trudy Ederle story, who in 1926 was the first woman to swim the English Channel. Ederle swam it two hours faster than any man.
Women were added to the Olympics in 1912 with only two events; they now compete in almost as many as men. The Olympics are exciting to watch and are an inspiration for girls in sports.
