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Women In The Olympic Games

968 Words4 Pages
Women have always struggled when it comes to gender equality and in the Olympics, it is no different. The road to representation has been long and tough, only very recently have there been women representing every country. I will be covering topics such as inspirational female athletes, women’s sports, sexism and media coverage, and their achievements. The topic of women in the Olympic Games is especially relevant today, women are fighting as hard as ever for proper representation and equality. The worldwide feminist movement is striving for recognition and justice for all. The Olympic Games were first held in Athens, Greece in 1896 and allowed men-only competitors. Women were most certainly welcome, but only as spectators. This was due to the fact that Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the Olympics, believed that a women’s anatomy wasn’t cut out for sports at such an extreme level. - “No matter how toughened a sportswoman may be, her organism is not cut out to sustain certain shocks.” It was only in 1900, during the second Olympic Games, that women started to compete. Helene de Pourtales was one of these few women to participate. Helene de Pourtales was a swiss sailor who competed in and won a gold medal in the 2-3 ton class and then won silver in the second 2-3 ton class race of this division. She sailed with the rest of the crew aboard the Lerina, a Swiss boat, and was wife to Hermann de Pourtales, who was also an Olympic sailor. Their son Guy de Pourtales was an
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