Reflecting on women’s sport at the Paris Olympics leaves me feeling torn. Parity was proudly announced in numbers of male and female athletes and it was an important milestone. Though it’s hardly reassuring it took 124 years since women debuted, also in Paris.
There were some incredible highs, such as Keely Hodgkinson’s scintillating performance on the track, Sky Brown’s fearless skateboarding and Emma Finucane’s impressive debut in the velodrome. The athlete of the Games could arguably be Sifan Hassan, who won bronze in the 5,000m and 10,000m and then gold in the marathon, with the medal ceremony a feature of the closing ceremony. Or Simone Biles, who took gymnastics to new heights and showed that can be done while having fun and cheering on your competitors, moving on from the sport’s abusive history.
