“Women have but one task, that of the role of crowning the winner with garlands … in public competitions, women’s participation must be absolutely prohibited. It is indecent that spectators should be exposed to the risk of seeing the body of a woman being smashed before their eyes. Besides, no matter how toughened a sports woman may be, her organism is not cut out to sustain certain shocks.”
This is what Pierre de Coubertin, the Former President of the IOC (International Olympic Committee), had to say about women’s participation in the Olympics. De Coubertin, known as the father of the modern Olympic Games, was the second President of the IOC and held office from 1896 to 1925. Ironically, he was born in Paris.
It won’t be a hyperbole to state that at the birthplace of de Coubertin, a century after the Frenchman vacated his chair, we are witnessing what can only be called a silent revolution.
Out of the 10,500 athletes participating in Paris 2024, 5,250 will be men and 5,250 women. The 2024 Games have thus become the first to achieve full gender parity, as far as the numbers go.
The Female IOC membership has also shot up to 40% from just 21% at the start of the Olympic Agenda 2020. Winds of change are clearly blowing, as was evident at the Youth Games Buenos Aires 2018 (2,000 athletes per gender) and Winter Youth Games Lausanne 2020 (936 athletes per gender) as well.
Interestingly, it was the Paris Olympics in 1900 where female athletes first took part, four years after the first modern Olympics in Athens.
Pay gap remains a concern
Hence, it would be only fair to conclude that everything is hunky-dory, right? It’s just that, it isn’t. Let’s try to scratch the surface a little bit.
Are the Olympics, or sport at large, really gender neutral, or anywhere near it?
Let’s start with the elephant in the room: the massive pay gap between the two genders. Interestingly, no woman was on the 2024 Forbes list of 50 highest-paid athletes. Footballer Cristiano Ronaldo was the highest-paid male athlete, with an income of $260 million.
In contrast, Polish tennis sensation Iga Świątek, the highest-paid female athlete, earned $23.9 million – half of even the 50th-placed Devin Booker ($45.2 M).
The difference elsewhere is even more stark. The top salary in the U.S. Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) for 2024 is $252,240,16 as compared with $55,761,217 in the men’s NBA. A 2024 BBC survey of 143 elite British sportswomen revealed that more than six in ten earned less than £20,000 per year, and more than a third of respondents considered giving up the sport because it was financially unsustainable.
Lack of opportunity for females
From the pay gap, we come to play gap. Globally, 85% of adolescent girls are insufficiently active. In the United States, 43% of girls have never played a sport, compared with 35% of boys. In Turkey, women comprise just 31% of athletes across 63 sports federations. Only 7% of schools globally report implementing equal PE time for boys and girls.
Many women’s sports, particularly those outside of the mainstream, struggle to secure sufficient funding for training, equipment, and travel. This can hinder athlete development and limit their ability to compete at the highest level.
Gap in media coverage
Disparate media coverage is another avenue which stunts the growth of female athletes. Take, for example, the 2023 Women’s World Cup. German broadcasters allocated a mere €3 million to cover the tournament, a paltry sum compared to the staggering amount they shelled out for the last two men’s World Cups, representing a coverage gap of over 97%.
The Swiss Council reduced tournament funding for the 2025 Women’s European Football Championship to 4 million Swiss Francs, while in 2018 they provided 82 million Swiss Francs to fund the Men’s European Championship.
Research further underscores this imbalance. Studies show that women in sports journalism remain a small minority, with less than 10% of sports articles written by female reporters between 2006 and 2020. Despite 40% of all athletes being women, only 5% of sports media coverage outside major events like the Olympics focuses on their achievements. This lack of representation creates a vicious cycle, where limited media attention discourages viewers and sponsors from engaging with women’s sports, hampering their growth and overall popularity.
Gap in leadership roles
While the number of female athletes is rising, significant disparities remain in leadership, coaching, and refereeing positions within the sporting world. Women hold only 27% of leadership roles in top sports federations, highlighting a lack of representation at the decision-making table. This translates to the sidelines as well, with barely 10% of coaches at the 2024 Olympics being women.
Over the past decade, a mere 10% of accredited coaches at the Olympics were women, compared to 30% for technical officials. The Tokyo Olympics offered a glimmer of progress, with a slight increase to 13% female coaches and 30.5% female technical officials. However, much work needs to be done to ensure a more balanced representation in these crucial roles within the sporting world.
The gap in officiating extends elsewhere, with only 5% of coaches and 9% of referees in FIFA member associations being women. This lack of diversity in leadership and support roles creates a trickle-down effect, potentially impeding the development of female athletes and perpetuating a culture that doesn’t fully cater to their needs.
Sexual abuse: a massive deterrent for female athletes
Furthermore, studies on physical activity are often based on male participants, failing to consider the unique physiology and needs of women athletes. This creates a knowledge gap that could impact training methods and overall athlete well-being.
Perhaps the most concerning disparity lies in safety. A shocking 21% of female athletes report experiencing childhood sexual abuse in sports. Women and girls also face higher rates of gender-based violence, harassment, and cyber abuse compared to their male counterparts. Addressing these safety concerns requires robust prevention and response mechanisms within sports organizations to ensure a safe and inclusive environment for all athletes.
Gender equality: substantial progress made
That said, from women not being “allowed” to participate in the Olympics at all or given entry in just “aesthetic” sports, we have certainly come a long way. Even as facets like pay gaps, play gaps, leadership, coaching, research, and safety need much more progress, we are assuredly on the right track.
With just 22 women out of a total of 997 athletes taking part in Paris 1900, to 5,250 women out of 10,500 athletes at Paris 2024, undoubtedly, there has been great advancement in achieving gender equality. If we keep accelerating on this path, perhaps by the time the Olympics bandwagon returns to Paris the next time, we will be gender equal – in the truest sense of the phrase.
Image Source: Getty Images
