Gender equality achieved in Olympics with equal participation for male and female athletes in Paris

Gender equality has been achieved – at least in the Olympics. For the first time in the history of the Games, there are equal starting spots for male and female athletes. Vesa Tikander, a specialist at the Sports and Exercise Culture Center, noted that Paris presents the potential for true equality, with the possibility of more female athletes than males.

The journey to this point has been long, tracing back to the modern Olympic Games which began in 1896. Early 20th-century attitudes did not favor women’s participation in competitive sports, often considering it unfeminine. While fitness gained acceptance among women, physical competition was deemed inappropriate. Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympics, was famously against women’s sports, a stance that limited female access to athletics until the late 1920s.

In 1991, the International Olympic Committee mandated that women should have access to the same sports as men, a policy slowly being realized. Women’s participation in weightlifting began in 2000, wrestling followed in 2004, and women’s boxing was introduced in 2012. However, this year, there remain five more events for men compared to women.

Recently, interest in women’s sports, such as football, has surged. The Finnish women’s national team showcased this growth in a match against Norway in July 2023. Although Olympic equality seems to be advancing, significant disparities still exist outside the arena, particularly in high-profile team sports, where opportunities and earnings for women often lag behind those of men.

Female athletes are increasingly turning their focus to individual sports, with Finland sending 18 female athletes to Paris, making up over half of its Olympic team, a trend expected to continue in the future.