An Obstacle Race

For a long time, women were excluded from sport or their presence was poorly seen by men, who considered that a « female Olympics is impracticable, uninteresting, uneven and incorrect. » Extreme prejudice and closed mindset led a sport of sport to say that “games must be reserved for men. The role of women must be to crown the winners. ” The founder of the Modern Era Olympic Games himself, Baron Pierre de Coubertin, opposed the presence of women in the first games held in Athens in 1896. Only four years later in Paris, the participation of women as invited athletes was allowed. For this reason, they received only one certificate, while men received the olive crown attributed to the Olympic champion. In these Olympics, 22 women participated out of a total of 997 athletes, who participated in golf competitions, tennis, equestrian and candle, considered “beautiful” sports, which did not require physical contact.

Overcoming the history of women in sport begins with British tennis player Charlotte Cooper. At 26, he was deaf and had to adjust the way of playing and positioning himself in the courts. None of this prevented her from making history and being the first Olympic champion in Paris 1900, with two gold medals in the variant of singular and mixed peers. In order to contradict the segregation to which women were subject, French activist Alice Milliata founded the Federation of Women's Sport and organized the Women's Olympic Games from 1922 to 1934 to claim women's right in sport. In the first edition, 77 athletes participated and about 20,000 people watched the speed races (100 meters, 400 meters, 800 meters) and heels in height.

Women's struggle had new development in 1967 when the American Katherine Switzer participated in the Boston Marathon-it is the oldest marathon in the world. She was the first woman to run the 42.1 km and finished the race in 4 hours and 20 minutes, although the director of the race assaulted and tried to tear her dorsal 261. The incident was recorded by the photographers and gave rise to one of the 100 photos that changed the world, according to Time Life.

The women were gradually overthrowing barriers, obtaining achievements and eliminating discriminations and stereotypes of the “male sports activities”. Since London 2012, women participate in all Olympic modalities, and there are subjects where the number of women is superior to men, such as ice skating and gymnastics.
Nadia Comaneci's name is associated with the word perfection. At the age of 14, he obtained a maximum score of 10 in the exercise of asymmetrical bars at the 1976 Montreal Olympics thanks to his talent, balance, plasticity, concentration and a lot of training. During his career he won nine Olympic medals. The Romanian gymnast withdrew in 1981 at the age of 20. The American Simone Biles is considered the best gymnast of all time with four gold medals at Rio 2016 and three in Paris 2024: “I'm not the next Usain Bolt or the new Michael Phelps. I am the first Simone Biles, ”he said. The gymnast also warned of mental health-« we (athletes) are human too, we must protect our minds and our bodies, instead of doing what the world expects from us, » he said when withdrawing from the competition at the Tokyo 2021 Olympic Games.

After 27 years of career, Serena Williams arranged the racket after winning 23 Grand Slam titles, four gold medals at Olympic Games and occupied the number 1 of the world ranking for six years. Serena is also known for his positions on racism and social inequalities, is one of the most active voices of the Black Lives Matter movement. In several open letters and videos, it defends the bet on feminism and asks women not to be afraid to impose themselves and break barriers.
In the world of women's football the main reference is Marta. She was elected the best player in the world six times, is the best marker of the Brazilian team with 116 goals, holds the record for the most goals in world – female and men – with 17 goals, and won 21 titles. At 39, Marta currently plays at Orlando Pride, of the US Women's League. “We live difficult times and we should never give up, we have to have confidence in us. The obstacles we find make us even more determined to achieve our dreams despite the adversities, ”he made a point of stressing.

American Natora Trischa Zorn is the most successful paralympic athlete in the world, with 55 medals in all categories, including 41 gold medals. It began to swim very young, despite the blindness caused by a congenital disease. He participated in the first Paralympic Games in Moscow 1980, at the age of 16, was a paralympic champion seven times and ended his career at 40, with the Bronze Medal in Athens 2004.

Florence Griffith-Joyner “flying” women died in 1998 at the age of 38, but their deeds remain very alive. The records of the US sprinter of 10.49 in 100 meters and 21.34 in 200 meters have been remaining since Seoul 1988! Florence Griffith started running when she was seven, but was forced to leave sport to help support her family. Her coach encouraged her to return, and at the Los Angeles 1984 Olympic Games, she won the 200-meter silver medal, although her long nails unusually painted more attention to the press than her race.

For History Portugal has always had athletes capable of winning on the big stages. Rosa Mota reached the first great achievement of women's athletics by beating the marathon at the European Athens in 1982. At the Los Angeles 1984 Olympic Games won the bronze medal in the marathon and, four years later, became the Olympic champion in Seoul. Considered one of the greatest marathon runners in history, he won numerous events and raised many medals in championships in the world and Europe throughout his career. In recent years, Rosa Mota has gained several veterans events and, in 2024, has set a new record of the world at Barcelona Half Marathon (1: 24.27 hours) for the 65th to 69-year-old level.

There are women who have won their place in a markedly male medium as was the automobile sport. Maria Teresa de Filippis debuted in Formula 1, at age 38, with Maserati 250F with which Juan Manuel Fangio won the fifth world title. He was present on five major prizes and ran at the Boavista circuit in 1958, but gave up with an engine malfunction. The best result was 10th place in Spa-Francorchamps. It was forbidden to run in France for being a woman. The test director stated that « such a beautiful young woman should not wear a helmet, except the hairdresser at the hairdresser, » in a completely macho attitude. Another example comes from Michèle Mouton, runner-up in the world in 1982. He gained rally with group c cars, which were banned for being extremely powerful and dangerous. Even today many people remember their victory in the Rally de Portugal with Audi Quattro.