Weaker gender in the sport world? It is history now, as we can find females among the very best there is across different sports and activities. Women have debunked the myth of the weaker sex in sport. This caused a number of controversies, from doping to the hypotheses of genetic manipulation theories, as in the case of Ye Shiwen. This Chinese swimmer won the gold medal in the 400 and 200 meters individual medley at the London Olympics, breaking the world record in the first event. A record that also beat the best male performance. Believing that the woman are less competitive than man is a cliché nowadays, and it’s largely denied by people in sports. However, the so called "battle of the sexes", is a recurrent subject whether that’s in life, or in some sporting discipline.
Women are competing more in sport than ever before
The Battle of the Sexes: Billie-Jean King
The 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 score by tennis player Billie-Jean King made history in the female sport. September 20th, 1973, a tennis match that marked an era in front of 90 million viewers, the “Battle of the Sexes” between Billie Jean King and Robby Riggs. Never before had a woman defeated a man in a sport match. "A woman can never beat a man, because man is king", these the words of Riggs, who first launched the challenge on the field. But Billie-Jean won and her fame grew exponentially after that. Riggs, on his part, did not make it a drama. The game was full of symbolism and a clear match between feminism and chauvinism.
Rumors always denied, but probably real, claimed that he had earned $100,000 by betting on his defeat. Even at the time, sports betting was widespread in many forms - just not so advanced. Today however, it’s like we’re living in a different world. Insane amounts of money are being cashed out to players that place bets on all types of sports, and there are tons of promotions and bonuses by bookmakers. If you check some resources like this bonus codes list, you’ll get the idea.
Girl Power!
"Will women soon outrun men?" This was the provocative title in the prestigious English journal Nature in 1992. Because of morpho-functional characteristics, the performance of women will never be equivalent to those of men in all sports, but some sports in which the two sexes are confronting each other already exist. Horse riding, for example, where there is no division between masculine and feminine at the Olympics. And another exception, motoring. It is true that now in the F1 the riders are all men, but in the past it happened several times that a woman was at the wheel.
Until puberty, males and females tend not to have significant differences in body shape, but then something changes and gender differentiation becomes necessary. This differentiation has nothing to do with discrimination or sexism. Indeed, it is exactly the opposite, because it guarantees the enhancement of the athlete, male or female. Some athletes, however, would like to go against this rule, such as the case of the skier Lindsey Vonn. For years she has asked to compete against men, even if she knows very well that she cannot win. In May 2018, her request has been officially delayed.
It will certainly be difficult to see men and women compete in the same category in every sport. Maybe even in a hundred years. Women definitely improve their performance from year to year, but men are not far behind.