Gender Equality at the Paris Olympics

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Dear John,

Women in sports are finally having their moment; however, there continues to be a discrepancy in the amount of media attention men and women receive as well as how male and female athletes are portrayed. For example, women are often sexualized with disproportionate attention placed on their appearances and personal lives, rather than their athletic abilities ([link removed]) .

As you watch the Paralympics from 28 August to 8 September, we invite you to pay special attention to these trends and keep track through The Representation Project’s bingo card ([link removed]) :
Like many viewers, we have been amazed by this and former years' Olympic competitors. Here are four women athletes who caught our attention:

1. Hidilyn Diaz ([link removed]) is a Filipino weight-lifter who won the Philippines’s first-ever Olympic gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. While she didn’t qualify for the Olympic Games in Paris, she continues to be a sports leader in the Philippines and inspires women and girls who are passionate about lifting.

"To the people that looked down on me, saying that I cannot do well in weightlifting, or 'why you do weightlifting?'... I just want to say 'thank you,' because you gave me the motivation to do well, and to represent women in sports.”
- Hidilyn Diaz
2. Nada Hafez ([link removed]) is an Egyptian fencer who competed in women’s saber while seven months pregnant. Though she didn’t receive a medal this year, she placed in the top 16 and said these Games would always be special to her because she was “carrying a little Olympian” at the time.

3. Simone Biles ([link removed]) is an American gymnast who returned to the Olympics after needing to bow out of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics for health reasons and faced a barrage of criticism for the decision. She proved her critics wrong by winning gold in Paris and she is now the most decorated gymnast of all time.

"I'm not the next Usain Bolt or Michael Phelps. I'm the first Simone Biles.”
- Simone Biles
4. Yixiao Xu ([link removed]) represents China in sitting volleyball. In the Tokyo Paralympic Games, she and her teammates received silver medals, and this year, she’s determined to return home with gold. In 2023, she was named Best Attacker at the World ParaVolley Sitting Volleyball World Cup.
“I believe that in this sport, at the moment, I am my own inspiration.”
- Yixiao Xu
We’re thrilled by recent advancements to promote greater equality at the Olympic Games. UN Women stated that this year’s Games were the most gender-equal ever ([link removed]) with an equal number of male and female athletes ([link removed]) competing for the first time. Additionally, for the first time, parent athletes had access to a nursery ([link removed]) at the Olympic Village. Launched by Allyson Felix, an American Olympian and member of the Athletes’ Commission on the International Olympic Committee, the nursery is a source of support for mothers and families. In Felix’s words, “This is a shift in culture. It’s saying that motherhood isn’t the end. If you choose to be a mother in the midst of your career, you can still go and have incredible performances.”

But there’s more to do to ensure a safe, equitable environment at the Olympics, particularly when it comes to preventing sexual and gender-based violence and holding perpetrators accountable.

According to UN Women, 21% of female athletes (compared to 11% of male athletes) experienced sexual abuse at least once as a child in sport ([link removed]) . Horrifying examples of sexual abuse have reached international media outlets over the years, such as the widely publicized case of Larry Nassar ([link removed]) , an American gymnastics coach sentenced to 40-175 years in prison in 2018 for sexual abuse, or the 377 French coaches and sports-related officials ([link removed]) accused of sexual abuse or of covering up abuse in 2023. More recently and to the anger and disappointment of many, a male athlete convicted of raping a 12-year-old girl
([link removed]) was allowed to compete at the Paris Olympics. The international community and the International Olympic Committee must do more to protect athletes of all genders.
Read more about and from the perspectives of women athletes through the following books:

Good for a Girl ([link removed]) by Lauren Fleshman
American runner and coach Lauren Fleshman shares her experience as an athlete in this highly-rated, New York Times best-selling memoir. She writes about her love of running; the obstacles she’s overcome over the years; how the current sports world, which was built for men and boys, continues to fail women athletes; and how she believes the sports world must be rebuilt with women at its center.

Butterfly ([link removed]) by Yusra Mardini
In this powerful memoir, Yusra Mardini tells her story as a Syrian refugee and Olympic athlete. In 2015, she and her sister Sara fled Syria, but on their way to Greece with 18 other passengers, their boat began to sink. She and Sara jumped into the water, and for several hours, helped push the boat to safety. Yusra went on to compete as a swimmer on the Refugee Olympic Team in the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo. She is now a UN Goodwill Ambassador.

My Mother’s Daughter ([link removed]) by Perdita Felicien
Canadian hurdler Perdita Felicien competed at the Olympic Games in Sydney and Athens in 2000 and 2004, respectively. Her bestselling memoir recounts her mother’s arrival in Canada; their combined experiences with racism and homelessness; Perdita’s athletic career; and their special mother-daughter relationship.

The Girls: An All-American Town, a Predatory Doctor, and the Untold Story of the Gymnasts Who Brought Him Down ([link removed]) by Abigail Pesta
In The Girls, journalist Abigail Pesta shares the story of Larry Nassar, the gymnastics coach later charged with sexual assault, and the women he coached and preyed upon who then bravely joined forces to bring him down, though not without their fair share of struggle and resistance. In 2019, the Library Journal stated that The Girls “may be the most important sports title of the year.”

In 2020, Equality Now moderated a panel on sexual abuse in sports ([link removed]) and the systemic nature of sexual abuse and harassment of adolescent girls. The panel featured Athlete A director Bonni Cohen, Nassar survivor Rachel Denhollander, and more.
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