London 2012 is the first Olympic Games to have female athlete representation from every participating country. Middle-eastern countries, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Brunei, have all included women on their team for the first time.
And while it’s worthy of celebration, need we be reminded that it took 116 years to declare full female participation in the Games. The birth of the modern Olympics was 1896, but women weren’t included in the event until 1900 with participation limited to tennis and golf. Twenty-two years later women were still not welcome on the track, so they started their own Olympic Games in Paris which consisted of a one day track meet that attracted 20,000 fans.
The success of the 1922 Women’s Olympics led to negotiations between organizers of the modern Olympics and the Women’s Olympics which resulted in an agreement to include 10 women’s track events in the upcoming 1928 Olympics. Organizers eventually reneged on their promise, adding five instead of 10 new female sports, which caused the British women’s team to boycott the event.
Fast forward to 2012, and despite the International Olympic Committee applauding female participation from all competing nations, controversy remains regarding the use of a hijab by a Saudi teenager who wants to compete in the judo competition. Interesting, from long skirts on the tennis court to bikinis in beach volleyball and the hijab in judo, modesty and dress have been sources of controversy in sport since women first started competing in 1900.
Equality in sport isn’t just about the inclusion of women in the Olympic Games. The goal is to ensure that women around the world are allocated the opportunities, facilities, coaching, resources and financial aid necessary to achieve their athletic potential.
Or, to quote Bruce Kidd, long-time professor in the dept of Kinesiology and Physical Education at University of Toronto, “an athletics program is gender equitable when the men’s program would be pleased to accept as its own the overall participation, opportunities and resources currently allocated to the women’s program and vice versa.”