Gloria Steinem once said, "Women are always saying, 'We can do anything that men can do.' But Men should be saying, 'We can do anything that women can do.'" But on the contrary, why are women still fighting for equality and freedom even when we are living in the 21st century? And when it comes to sports, male athletes receive more publicity, endorsement deals and television time than female athletes in most of the sports. When women athletes work just as hard as male athletes, why are they paid less than the men?
Women today have not lagged behind in any discipline. The recently concluded Olympics have proved the genius of the womenfolk in the arena of sports. Let us have a look at these girls who have come a long way and have proved their mettle.
#1 Gaurika Singh
This 13-year-old who had survived the killer 7.8 Nepal earthquake, caught the world’s attention after she won the heat 1 of the 100m Backstroke at this year’s Summer Olympics. However, she had already made her mark on the international swimming circuit after she won one silver and three bronze medals at the 2016 South Asian Games. At the age of 11, she started competing in the Nepal championships and she even broke seven national records in one of Kathmandu’s two 50m pools.
Ahead of her first heat at Rio, her nail got stuck in her swimsuit as she was wearing it and that nail tore the suit up. As suggested by her coach, she immediately changed into a new suit and went on to swim. Being the youngest competitor at Rio, she has set an example for all the young girls out there who have been dreaming of being an Olympian. We can’t wait to see a 17-year-old Gaurika at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
#2 Simone Biles
At a young age of 19, she is already considered as the best female gymnast the world has ever seen. She has been the most dominant gymnast at Rio, where she won 4 gold (women’s team all-around, women’s individual all-around, women’s vault, women’s beam) and 1 bronze medal (women’s floor exercise). That’s the highest number of golds won by any US gymnast - male or female in a single Olympics.
Biles now has a total of 19 Olympic and World Championship medals which makes her the most decorated American gymnast overtaking Shannon Miller. She is also the only female gymnast to take home ‘all-around’ gold at the prestigious World Gymnastics Championships three years in a row. She is in a class all by herself.
This 4’ 8” power house has proved that if you have it inside you, nothing can stop you from being the best.
#3 Pusarla Venkata Sindhu
Popularly known as PV Sindhu, the girl from Hyderabad made a cricket crazy nation stay glued to their television sets to watch a badminton match. She stunned the world after she defeated the World No.2 Wang Yihan of China in straight sets in her quarter final match at Rio. With her never giving up attitude, she carried the hopes of a billion Indian fans on her shoulders alone and proved what she is capable of doing after she became the first ever Indian woman to win a silver medal at the Olympics.
While her height adds more power to her smashes, her movement on court is amazingly swift as well. Although she lost to the World No.1 Carolina Marin in the gold medal match at Rio, she fought till the end of the match and managed to give the Spaniard a tough fight.
She became the first Indian to win a medal in women’s singles at the Badminton World Championships in 2013. After becoming the youngest recipient of the Padma Shri in March 2015, she was honoured with India’s highest sporting honour ‘The Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna’ on 29th August 2016. She surely deserves all the accolades and applauds. Kudos girl!
#4 Elaine Thompson
The world is obsessed with Usain Bolt, but now he is not the only Jamaican who is killing it on the track. We have our new ‘Sprint Queen’ who also hails from Jamaica and now is the fastest woman in the world. Elaine won gold medals in both the 100m and 200m women’s finals at the Rio Olympics.
Jamaica’s golden girl is the first woman to win both the 100m and 200m gold at the Olympics after Florence Griffith Joyner in 1988 Seoul Games. Like Elaine said, in one of her interviews, that her school motto was ‘let the light shine’, she had surely shone as one of the brightest stars on the tracks of Rio. The fastest woman in the world has surely set the tracks on fire
#5 Katie Ledecky
Ledecky holds a world record in the women’s 400m, 800m and 1500m (long course) freestyle events.The undisputed aquatic queen turned 19 this year and she has a bagful of 19 Olympic gold medals! She even holds the fastest times in 500, 800, 1000, and 1,650-yard freestyle events.
Ledecky shared her thoughts in one of her interviews, “What I’ve done over the past couple of years has been pretty great, but even that doesn’t define my swimming. Working hard and doing everything I can to be successful should be my identity.” She was the youngest on Time magazine’s Time 100 list this year, she has also won Swimming World’s World Swimmer of the Year, the FINA Swimmer of the Year and the American Swimmer of the Year in 2013, 2014 and 2015.
She stunned the world after she defended her 200m, 400m, 800m and 4x200m (relay) freestyle golds with a better timing at Rio.It is believed that she will be ahead of Michael Phelps in the race to be the greatest of all times.
#6 Dipa Karmakar
The path breaker from India, who is the first gymnast to represent the nation at the Olympics, has made us all proud by her alluring performance at Rio. This Agartala girl brought the whole nation together on this year’s Independence Day, as everyone watched her risk the death vault. Although she missed a medal by a small fraction, she managed to win our hearts and has inspired the whole nation.
She started her journey at the age of six, by practicing on tattered mats, with equipments made from duct tape and discarded scooter parts. Being a small town girl she has achieved what no one could achieve till now in the world of gymnastics from India, which in itself is a strong message to every small town girl with extraordinary talents like hers!
Deepa was ranked an impressive fourth in the final of the women’s vaults at Rio. Recently she was felicitated with the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award by the President of India.
#7 Monica Puig
#PicaPower began trending on Twitter as the world could not stop celebrating Puerto Rico’s first ever Olympic Gold medal, which was won by the unseeded Monica Puig. She also became the first unseeded women’s singles gold medalist since the return of tennis to the Olympics in 1988. She defeated the World No.2 Angelique Kerber from Germany in one of the most surprising Olympic tennis finals.
She also became the second unseeded player to win a medal at the Olympics after Alicia Molik won bronze in Athens. Puig who has never made it past the round of 16 at any major tournament but she left no stone unturned to create history at Rio and we all hope to see more of her.
#8 Sakshi Mallik
Sakshi was announced the brand ambassador of the ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ campaign in Haryana by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar after she won India’s first medal at the Rio Olympics. She became the first Indian woman to win a medal at the Olympics in wrestling. Sakshi has been trained in such a way where she had to fight a lot of boys because the sport was not supposed to be ‘for girls’. But her willpower kept her going despite all the negatives.
People in her village teased her saying the sport would give her ‘cauliflower ears’ and no one would marry her. And because of all these gossips, her parents were hesitant at one point in the beginning. Even her coach had to face protests after he took Sakshi under his guidance. Her performance at Rio was a slap on the faces of those who still think girls are not self-sufficient to go out and fulfil their dreams.
#9 Yusra Mardini
No war or combat could stop this 18-year-old swimmer from competing in her first Olympic Games. From training in pools where the roofs had been blown open by bombings to saving lives by pushing their overcrowded motor boat which was on the verge of sinking, through the Mediterranean Sea, she has seen it all. Mardini was a member of the Refugee Olympics Athlete team and she won her 100m butterfly heats at Rio.
The Syrian war blew away her house and she now lives in Germany. She describes the situation in her words as, “Sometimes we couldn’t train because of the war, and sometimes you would be swimming in pools where the roofs were [blown open] in three or four places.”
Yusra hopes that one-day peace could be brought in Syria and she could be in her country’s team and make Syria proud of her. She is a live example of an ultimate fighter who would face any circumstances with strength and confidence.
#10 Nikki Hamblin and Abbey D’Agostino
How often do we see such an example of sportsmanship where an athlete stops in between a race to help and lift up a fallen competitor? It was an emotional moment between the two when Hamblin fell accidently and collided with Abbey who stumbled as well. Abbey soon got up but instead of running ahead, she preferred to turn around and help Nikki get up.
Although they could not have a podium finish after they were given place in the 5000m final, but because of the Olympic spirit that they both showed, they have been awarded with a Fair Play Trophy. The world won’t forget this emotional and heart warming moment that these two had experienced.
#11 Kate and Helen Richardson-Walsh
British field hockey players Kate and Helen Richardson-Walsh have become the first same-sex married couple to compete in the Olympics. They have competed in four Olympics together from Sydney 2000 to Rio 2016. While Kate is the captain of Great Britain and England field hockey teams, Helen plays as a midfielder.
They have not only defied the odds to earn selection for the games in Rio but they had helped Great Britain to win bronze in London Olympic Games and have also become the first same-sex married couple to win an Olympic gold in the same final at Rio.
In an interview, Kate said, “The best thing is the reaction we’ve had from the public in that we’ve helped people feel more confident in themselves. People feel it’s OK to come out as bisexual or gay or lesbian; that’s been the best thing for me.” They have certainly set a fine example for the other same-sex couples who have been hiding behind the fiction of this not so ‘conservative issue’.
#12 Ibtihaj Muhammad
Ibtihaj is the first Muslim woman from the United States of America who wore a hijab at the Olympic Games. Ibtihaj trailed only Micheal Phelps to carry the flag of USA at the Opening Ceremony at Rio after most of the other members of the team voted for her.
At an interview she mentioned how she wanted girls like her to engage themselves in sports, "A lot of people believe that Muslim women don't have voices or that we (don't) participate in sport. And it's not just to challenge the misconceptions outside the Muslim community, but also within the Muslim community. I want to break cultural norms and show girls that it's important to be active, it's important to be involved in sport."
The fencing hall is a sparring format of untamed hopes and fears. The World No.8 was defeated by Cecilia Berder of France after a close fight in the second round of the Women’s Individual Sabre at Rio Olympics but she surely left a strong message behind her.
This picture of Doaa Elghobashy of Egypt and Kira Walkenhorst of Germany went viral and became one of the most popular pictures of this year’s Olympic Games. This picture was taken during their preliminary round match of women’s beach volleyball. While Elghobashy wore a full body suit and a hijab covering her head, Walkenhorst was in a bikini. The net seemed like a mirror portraying two different cultures. This picture is the best example of what we know as ‘Unity in diversity’ and that is what sports is all about.
