Women, The First Winners in Paris 2024 | Historic Paris 2024 Olympic Games Achievements
There are 5,250 of them, representing half of the athletes taking part in the games in the French capital, which were rained out in the first few days. At last, there is gender equality at the Olympic Games.
128! It took 128 years for the number of women competing in the Olympic Games to equal that of men. It’s clear that women are winning Paris 2024’s early competitions. Of the 10,500 athletes who will be vying for a place on the podiums of the French capital until August 11, half are women, an achievement that recognizes the historic contribution they have made to physical activity.
It’s not just about quantity, but quality. Women will make up a significant portion of the stars of the French Games. The world is paying as much attention to the exploits of gymnast Simone Biles, athletes Sha’Carri Richardson, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, and Shericka Jackson, swimmer Katie Ledecky, and BMXer Mariana Pajón as it is to the performances of jumper Mondo Duplantis, basketball player LeBron James, marathon runner Eliud Kipchoge, and sprinter Noah Lyles.
That, however, had never happened. The reason? Women have always been discriminated against and limited in society and in sport. In the ancient games, which were really cultural celebrations complemented by physical tests, the founders did not even consider that they could participate. Neither did Baron Pierre de Coubertin, who created the modern Games in 1896.
Women’s participation in the Olympic Games
“I do not approve of women participating in public competitions. At the Olympic Games, their role will be to congratulate and reward the winners,” said the French oligarch, considered the father of Olympism. Thus, 241 men competed in Athens in the first edition.
Although this was neither the spirit nor the values that it promoted, the movement for a long time kept women out of the competitions. In fact, the leaders did not agree with the fact that in Paris in 1900, 22 women were allowed to compete in exhibition games in sports that they considered to be of a mixed nature because apparently the demands were less, such as golf, croquet, and tennis. The first Olympic champion in history was the British Charlotte Cooper, the best tennis player of the time.
As voices supporting the mass participation of women multiplied, so did those against it, so this tug-of-war was a constant during the first half of the last century. In the second half, the feminist movement began to gain ground and achieve significant achievements, such as consolidating women’s events in disciplines such as athletics, fencing, swimming, and gymnastics.
This trend also occurred in Colombia. Five women were part of the delegation that went to Mexico in 1968, our first edition with female participation. In Barcelona 1992, Ximena Restrepo from Antioquia won the bronze medal in the 400-meter race. And in Sydney 2000, María Isabel Urrutia, in addition to winning the gold medal in the weightlifting category of less than 75 degrees, was the standard-bearer.
Our protagonists at the Paris 2024 Games
However, it was only in this century that women’s sports really took off. In Rio de Janeiro 2016, 45% of the athletes were women, 72 of them Colombian. The pandemic did not prevent this percentage from growing, until finally, in Paris, half of the competitors were women.
Due to the last-minute withdrawal of skater Jazmín Álvarez due to a ligament injury, our country will have 51 women participating, including the experienced boxer Ingrit Valencia, a bronze medalist eight years ago in Brazil.
The Cauca native, raised in the Valle department and living in Tolima, says that “reaching my third Olympic Games gives me immense excitement. Each edition has a special ingredient. The first ones because I won a medal; the Tokyo 2020 ones because of the difficulties of the pandemic; and these ones because of the venue, because there are more people on the street and much more integration with the other athletes. I hope to enjoy them, because I think they are the last ones.”
Ingrit is fighting this Sunday against Yesugen Oyuntsetseg, from Mongolia, in the first round of the 50-kilogram category, and regarding the fact that the Colombian team in Paris has more women than men, she acknowledges that “it is a great pride, proof that we are forward-thinking warriors. In boxing, for example, we have four representatives. It gives me satisfaction to have paved the way for them. In the country, there is a great breeding ground for female fighters, girls, and young women who have seen me over the years and have fallen in love with our activity. Let’s hope that this legacy is not lost.”
Regarding her expectations for these tournaments, she says that “there is pressure for the result, of course, but I try not to lose control, not to imagine so many previous fights in my mind, not to be wary of the judging, and to enjoy the moment.”
Her three teammates, Jenny Arias, Angie Valdés, and Valeria Arboleda, were favored in Friday’s draw and automatically advanced to the second round, meaning they are two wins away from securing a spot on the podium.
In the history of the Olympic Games, Colombia has won 34 medals, 17 with men and 17 with women. The only ones who have won twice are Helmut Bellingrodt, Óscar Figueroa, Carlos Ramirez, Luis Javier Mosquera, Caterine Ibargüen, Yuri Alvear, Jackeline Rentería, and Mariana Pajón, who is in fact the only triple winner.
The BMX rider from Antioquia is one of the legends of the Olympics, having won two gold medals and one silver. In 2024, she will try to get on the podium for the fourth time, which would be a milestone for Latin America.
Mariana, 32, is one of the women that the organizers of the Games consider figures to promote the event, so much so that she appears in local television commercials.
Other Colombians have arrived in France as candidates for a podium position. The javelin thrower, Flor Denis Ruiz, is the main one. World runner-up, she has the best mark of the year in the specialty, and if she maintains her level, she should win a medal at the Saint Dennis Stadium, the headquarters of athletics.
There is also cyclist Martha Bayona, one of today’s best sprinters and a keirin specialist. She has the legs, skill, and technique to put up a fight.
Three other compatriots who could be included are the young jumper Natalia Linares and the wrestler Tatiana Rentería, as well as the weightlifter Jenny Álvarez.
These are the international figures who will steal the spotlight in Paris in 2024.
However, the most intriguing person in Paris is American gymnast Simone Biles, who is returning to the sport’s top competition after overcoming a mental health crisis that led her to withdraw from Tokyo 2020 in the middle of the competition. The multiple world champion (23 times) and seven-time Olympic medalist (four golds, one silver, and two bronzes) has recovered and is the favorite to win gold in all individual events and in the floor final, as well as in the team competition. Another major attraction is American swimmer Katie Ledecky, a 10-time Olympic medalist (seven golds and three silvers) since London 2012.
No less intriguing is the fight to be the queen of the sprint. Three years after missing the Tokyo Games, American Sha’Carri Richardson, world champion in 2023, is aiming for Olympic consecration. To achieve this, she must overcome the Jamaicans, who have held the 100 meters for 15 years. Although the two-time reigning champion, Elaine Thompson-Herah, will not be in Paris due to an injury, they have the veteran Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Shericka Jackson to keep the crown.
Of the many gold medals the United States is aiming for, one of the most certain is the 400-meter hurdles, an event that Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone has dominated for the past five years, setting several world records. Her biggest rival will be Dutchwoman Femke Bol.
Even if most of the 5,250 women competing at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games do not win, they remain winners. Their contribution helped ensure that, for the first time in history, there is gender equality at the most multitudinous and inclusive event for humanity.
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