Women in Olympics:Winning against All Odds

Sport belongs to all human beings. It is unique to the human species. Like humans, other animals engage in play. But only the human species takes part in sport. We are the only ones on earth who set up barriers and try to jump over them to see who can get to the finish line first. We are the only ones who compete for the absolute satisfaction of winning. It has been a long road to equality for women at the Olympic Games, and it is still continuing. Aside from the digital revolution, the rapid rise in the importance and value of female athletes has been one of the most distinctive shifts in the sports marketing landscape in the last 50 years. We now see the young women growing up with a much higher chance of developing an interest in sport, and female sporting celebrities providing role models who are closing the gap with non-sport celebrities and their male counterparts. This paper presents an overview of three topics related to gender equity and sports. These topics include (1) history of gender equity in sports, (2) gender equity issues in athletics; (3) gender equity in sports participation.