An illustration shows women peeking through the rings of the 2024 Paris Olympics. This year’s games were the first in which there were an equal number of female and male athletes competing, however there were clear differences in how they were treated. “While the 2024 Paris Olympics were numerically equal, gender equality is more than that. It’s women being given an equal chance to succeed, both on and off the field,” Digital Editor Lea D’Angelo wrote. Illustration by Sam Harwell
The 2024 Paris Olympics reached a milestone in gender equality but as a whole, athletics still have a ways to go to be truly equitable.
The 2024 Paris Olympics: the perfect place to reach the numerical side of gender equality, but apparently not gender equity.
In late July, the International Olympic Committee announced that 28 out of 32 of this year’s athletic events had reached gender parity with roughly an equal number of male and female athletes competing.
However, gender equality– giving women the means needed to succeed and recognizing that they aren’t at the same starting point as men– is one of the milestones left to achieve. This goes beyond ensuring that women and gender-diverse people are represented, but also that they’re respected.
Respect isn’t what Algerian and Tawianese boxers Imane Khelif and Lin Yu Ting experienced when they faced scrutiny from fans based on their “masculine” features and strength.
Respect isn’t telling a Muslim woman she can’t wear a hijab while competing, the restriction placed on all French athletes.
Respect isn’t commentators calling women “housewives” at a tennis match or saying they have to go “fix their makeup” during a swimming event.
Despite the fact that 67 of Team U.S.A’s 126 medals were won by women, according to National Public Radio, the road to get there required a fight that many men didn’t have to face.
“(Women are) always asked about minimalist things and not the same things that the males are asked,” Evan Adams, a Clarke Central High School physical education department teacher and varsity tennis coach, said. “Women should get a pat on the back, because for a lot of (the comments, they) stand up for themselves in interviews and kind of flip (the narrative). They shouldn’t have to, but they’ve learned how to cope with it.”
While the 2024 Paris Olympics were numerically equal, gender equality is more than that. It’s women being given an equal chance to succeed, both on and off the field
This isn’t only a Paris issue — it exists at CCHS. When Hannah Barnett, a former CCHS varsity soccer player and Class of 2022 alumna, brought a concern about the inequitable facilities between male and female sports at CCHS to the attention of the Clarke County School District Board of Education, CCHS’ female athletes had to advocate for themselves to be given a fair chance.
“We need to have an area that’s ours and for it to kind of just be brushed aside was disappointing,” CCHS varsity volleyball coach Stacey Scott said. “(It) also just felt like we were unseen and not really being heard. (It was) more like we were complaining and not asking for something that just kind of comes with the other sports, as in (revenue-making),male sports.”
While the 2024 Paris Olympics were numerically equal, gender equality is more than that. It’s women being given an equal chance to succeed, both on and off the field, even if it means bending the rules, allocating more funds or even doing something as simple as recognizing a woman not for her gender, but for her talent.
