Olympics in Review: Women Dominate the Games

Image Courtesy of Olympics.com

I'm sure a bunch of you know, but I'm a huge fan of the Olympics. Every sport, event and ceremony is a must-watch for the two weeks that the Olympics are on. While this Olympics was crazy in a lot of ways (no crowds, athletes only staying as long as their event ran, a muted opening and closing ceremony), I really have to admire all of the athletes, volunteers and organizers of these games for giving such a show of athleticism.

And what a show it was! Something that I really noticed in these games, more so than in years past, is how much women were highlighted in their Olympic achievements. With women usually taking a backseat to the men's Olympic sports, I felt that this truly needed to be highlighted as a cultural moment for all women in sports and for those at home who didn't necessarily realize how historic the performances of the women were across the board. While this will have a few more USA athletes, I want this to be about international women as well! So without further ado, here are some places that women have really shown during these Olympics!

Historic Medals

Some of the best moments at this Olympics were the historic medals that women earned in multiple sports in this Olympics.

One of the first stories out of the Olympics was Hidilyn Diaz winning the first ever gold medal for the Philippines. Diaz was competing in her fourth Olympics after previously earning the silver medal at the 2016 Olympics. She set the new Olympic record in the 55 kg clean and jerk on her way to the win. She's also a member of the Philippines Air Force in the Special Service Group. Her achievements on and off the mat were truly the best way to open these games!

Women's swimming had numerous historic achievements in terms of medal counts. Of course, us Americans know of Katie Ledecky, who won the first ever 1500m free gold medal after its introduction this year. Australian women had a sensational competition this year. Emma McKeon walked away with four golds and three bronzes, the most any female swimmer has ever earned and tied for the most medals won in one Olympics by a single woman. Ariarne Titmus broke the Olympic record in 200-meter freestyle. South Africa's Tatjana Schoenmaker broke the world record in the 200-meter breaststroke. Swimming truly belonged to the women this Olympics.

Volleyball was also momentous for women. The US Indoor Volleyball team won their first ever team gold (and contributed in getting USA to 39 gold medals at these games!). April Ross won her first gold in beach volleyball, making her the first beach volleyball player to have a full set of medals in three Olympic appearances.

Rayssa Leal became the youngest medalist in an event in over 80 years after earning a silver in women's street skating.

In Track and Field, Allyson Felix set a new masters' world record after running 49.46 to earn her tenth Olympic medal. After her 4x400 relay win, Felix became the most decorated American Track and Field athlete in Olympic history (in addition to being the most decorated track and field athlete in World Championship history regardless of country or gender). Jamaican Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce made her historical fourth appearance on the 100m podium after earning silver. In that same race, fellow Jamaican Elaine Thompson-Herah broke one of the oldest Olympic records when she ran 10.61, the second-fastest time in history. The Jamaicans went on to run the third-fastest 4x100 relay time in history later that week at 41.02. Sydney McLaughlin and Dalilah Muhammad both ran under the previous world record during the women's 400-meter hurdles, marking the first time that Americans had won the event two Olympics in a row. Athing Mu became the first American to win the 800-meter dash in 53 years. The Netherlands' Sifan Hassan won the 5000-meter and the 10,000-meter along with medaling in the 1500-meter, the first woman ever to win medals in all three events in one Olympics.

USA women's basketball continued their dynasty by winning a seventh straight gold medal. Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi became the first basketball players ever to win five gold medals.

In Canada, women won the first eleven medals in the games and their women's soccer team won their first major international competition after claiming the gold in a shootout.

Suni Lee became the fifth U.S. all-around champion in a row in women's gymnastics after Simone Biles pulled out. Every member of the U.S. women's gymnastics team came home with an Olympic medal for the eighth time in a row to continue the U.S. women's gymnastics legacy. Russia's women gymnastics team became the first Russian/Soviet team since 1988 to win the team gold. (Unless you count the Unified Team but since the Unified Team included Ukrainian gymnasts, I'll stick with 1988.)

Overall, women across the board outperformed expectations and gave some amazing performances to look back on for years to come. They truly drove the narrative of these Olympics more than most male athletes did. Without a Michael Phelps or Usain Bolt at these Olympics, talented women could truly take center stage. But what is the significance of such an Olympics? Does it truly matter which gender is earning the medals as long as medals are being earned?

Women in Sports

One of the biggest problems in sports is the rate in which women have dropped out of sports, nearly twice the rate of boys dropping out of sports. Studies have shown that most girls stop playing sports around freshman year of high school. A variety of reasons have been pointed to as contributing factors including, but not limited to, not having access to sports, safety and transportation issues, perceived sexual orientation of girls in sports, cost and lack of positive role models. Equality in girls sports is still very much an issue when talking about girls staying active far past their high school days. Girls who play sports and are fit tend to turn into women who want to stay fit.

While the Olympics can't cure all of these issues when it comes to young women dropping out of sports, one thing that it can do is give young girls everywhere positive role models. Speaking for myself, I've been able to watch women like Allyson Felix, Sue Bird and Katie Ledecky shine in their respective sports. All are well-spoken, educated women who work hard to get to the highest pinnacle of their sport. Young girls who run, who play basketball or who swim have these amazing women to look up to to see where their eventual paths may lead if they continue in sports.

The Olympics also gives more attention to lesser known or popular sports like diving, water polo or even equestrian. Young girls can see these sports and may even try some of them based on watching them on TV. And, if they become popular enough, local towns and rec leagues may start offering these sports to young girls and women who want to try them. This exposure of sports that women excel in can really inspire a whole community to get behind that sport, something that can really help in the opportunities department for keeping girls in sports.

So while, on the surface, the Olympics seems mostly like entertainment for a few weeks, it truly can have a lasting impact. Women dominating these games will go down in history and can inspire a whole new generation of young girls and women to start or continue a sport that they love to watch. Keeping young girls and women in sports can truly have a great impact on our nation's obesity problem and keeping our population healthy in general.

While cheering on your favorite female athlete, I hope you point them out to your daughter, niece, granddaughter or any young girl in your life and inspire them. Maybe they won't be interested in sports forever but, for a brief moment in time, you can show them that women can be just as amazing in sports as anybody. And that, if they work hard, they can be just as successful as those women on top of the podium.