Let’s assume that a month from now the Tokyo Summer Olympics will finally be underway — going forward despite a yearlong COVID-19 delay and the continuing debate over safety protocols and whether the games should be held at all.
Watching world-class athletes vie for gold never fails to thrill. And this year promises to offer more excitement, as sports like surfing, karate and baseball debut or return to the stage.
What’s even better is that the Olympics are making serious strides in female participation. According to a recent New York Times story, back in 2014 the International Olympic Committee set a commitment to gender equality as part of its planning agenda; this year the IOC says nearly 50% of the overall athletic field will be female.
In the first Olympic Games to feature women, in 1900, fewer than two dozen female athletes competed in sports like croquet — a far cry from today’s BMX riding and mixed-relay triathlon.
It’s a great moment for women and the sports world in general. Fans will be able to see that female athletes are just as capable as male athletes; importantly, many of these athletes also use their fame to highlight troubling social issues.
One of the most notable examples recently is Simone Biles, possibly the best U.S. gymnast ever (she even sports a goat, i.e. “Greatest of all Time,” icon on her leotards). Her triumphs in the gym have propelled her to the forefront, but so have her ordeals: She has been outspoken about the sexual abuse she suffered from a USA Gymnastics doctor and has pushed for reform within USA Gymnastics.
There are other athletes who deserve to share the highlight reel for their actions in and out of competition.
Track star Allyson Felix made the U.S. Olympic team this month with a spectacular second-place finish in the 400-meter race during trials. This will be her fifth Olympics, and she could become the most decorated U.S. track and field athlete ever.
Three years ago , by the way, Felix became a mom to daughter Camryn. Her experience included an emergency C-section due to severe preeclampsia, and her daughter was born at 32 weeks.
Felix’s pregnancy wasn’t the only harrowing experience, though; her ordeal with former sponsor Nike over its maternity policies (now revised) led to a 2019 column in The New York Times and a switch to new sponsor Athleta.
Biles and Felix are just two of the many women with sights set on Tokyo who excel in their sports and also have become outspoken advocates off the field. Other athletes offer powerful representation even without the bold steps these two have taken.
Sunisa Lee, who could join Biles in Tokyo — the gymnastics Olympic trials are being held this week — would be the first Hmong American gymnast. She would represent an ethnic group that came to the U.S. to flee persecution in Southeast Asia and China only to face tension anew as the country battles rising anti-Asian sentiment.
Hawaii’s own Carissa Moore works to promote female empowerment and encourages girls to follow their passions, like she has with surfing. The ocean phenom and multiple world champion is among those on the inaugural U.S. Olympic surfing team.
Starting next month there will be thousands more examples from across the globe of women pushing boundaries and offering inspiration to girls who will be tuning in to the Olympics. And that’s a great thing to look forward to.
