An Invernessian in America: Growing number of Olympic females is an achievement
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
The 2020 Tokyo Olympics have earned their place in the history books before they even started… as they’re happening in 2021.
All that merchandise and branding made before the postponement – they couldn’t change the year in the logo. So it’ll be one to remember for that reason, but it will also represent a significant milestone in sport, and more specifically Scottish women in sport.
A total of 53 athletes competing in Tokyo are Scottish, and 62 per cent of them are female. In addition, Great Britain and Northern Ireland are taking more women than men to an Olympics for the first time in 125 years. What an encouraging stat!
Scotland has always produced female athletes of a high pedigree – think Liz McColgan, Katherine Grainger and Eve Muirhead. There’s a real growth in women’s sport, and there’s a number of factors that have contributed to this.
First up, exposure. Women’s sport is becoming more and more mainstream, generating more lucrative sponsorship deals and increased commercial airtime. For example, the advertising revenue for the 2019 Women’s World Cup totalled $96 million, a 120 per cent increase from the estimated amount. The final, between USA and the Netherlands averaged an audience of almost 15 million, and was named "the most-watched soccer match on English-language television in the United States" according to Fox Sports.
At Tokyo 2020, women’s events will be given more visibility on the broadcast and, in some cases, the women’s events will finish many Olympic timetables, a role that’s historically been held by the men. And women will compete in events that used to be only for the men, like the 1500m freestyle, plus new events like surfing and skateboarding.
We have more female sporting icons now, and we get to follow their lives outside the arena. Social media has allowed female athletes to communicate directly with their fans, and gets their messages across personally. And social media has normalised strong, fit and healthy females in contrast to pages and pages of waif-like models in magazines. Younger girls now have access to their role models on their phones.
There’s also been a significant increase in funding for sport in Scotland, particularly sport at an elite level. So with more people playing sport, that means increased competition and drive to succeed. With more and more females participating in sports groups, they don’t just have to be thrown in with the boys. Not that I’m a supporter of gender segregation, but I remember being the only girl in my high school swimming class – and hating every second of it!
It’s not just Scottish female athletes, the Tokyo Games as a whole will feature the most female athletes at an Olympics, with women accounting for 48.8 per cent of all those taking part in 2021 compared to 45 per cent in 2016 in Rio, and 44 per cent at London 2012. So we are, in fact, above the average. Before any medals are handed out, that is an achievement.
Remember at the first modern games in 1896, women were banned from competing altogether!
There are still many, many financial discrepancies, but that’s a conversation for another day. In the meantime, we have a fortnight of world-class sport with a phenomenal Scottish, and female, representation. And that sure feels like gold.
Previous column: Chance encounter
