Competing and Coaching-Women in London 2012 Olympics

 

With the Games of the XXX Olympiad in London just over a week away from opening ceremonies, I was curious about the progress women have made since the Beijing Summer Games in 2008, in regard to competing and coaching in the Olympics. Certainly, the road advocating for, and upholding, gender equity in the modern day Olympic Games stretches far beyond the most recent previously held Olympic competitions, but I wanted to keep my scope narrow and as current as possible.

 

Right off the bat, I learned some positive trending facts and figures…

 

“At the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, 26 national teams had no women. The figure dropped to three in Beijing four years ago. In Beijing, women represented 42 per cent of the athletes, and the figure is expected to increase in London, where women’s boxing is included on the Olympic program for the first time” (Source).

 

Bam! Way to go ladies!

I realize there are two sides to this coin. On one side, yes, positive headway is being accomplished. On the other side, the job will never be over. There will always be room for improvement and serious challenges needing to be addressed (case in point: gender testing in athletics and the Olympics in particular).

 

But for now, back to the positives. Here is a list of facts I have compiled on the London 2012 Games involving women in new competing, coaching, and officiating roles. Check it out!:

 

• Terrie McKeever will be the first female head coach of the U.S. Olympic women’s swimming team. This is the third Olympic stint for McKeever, who served as a U.S. assistant coach in the 2004 and 2008 Olympiads. At the international level, McKeever was the first woman to serve on a U.S. Olympic swimming staff, in 2004, and the first woman to serve as a U.S. head coach, when she led the women’s national team in the 2006 Pan Pacific Championships.
• Saudi Arabia is sending two female athletes to the Olympics for the first time to compete in judo and the 800 meter run. This means that every single country competing in the July 27-August 12 Olympics will be represented by male and female athletes.
• Saudi Arabia will also include female officials in their Olympic delegation for the first time.
• The United Arab Emirates Women’s Olympic Weightlifting Team has earned a spot at the London Olympics — a first for a Gulf country.
• Women’s boxing makes its debut in the Olympics. Women’s boxing was added to the Summer Games in 2009.

 

I also found that the British have high hopes for the Olympics to motivate, British women in particular, toward fitness pursuits.

 

Additionally, more female coaches are receiving the distinction of being named a head Olympic coach for a national team. It has been announced that Harvard’s Katy Stone will coach the 2014 women’s Olympic hockey team. Coach Stone will be the first female head coach for the U.S. women’s Olympic ice hockey team.

 

Citius, Altius, Fortius