Olympics 2024 shows the untapped potential of female athletes

Jessica Pinchbeck; Candice Lingam-Willgoss

Autores

Jessica Pinchbeck The Open University
Candice Lingam-Willgoss The Open University

Palavras-chave:

Olympic Games, Record, Female Sport, Performance, Sex Differences, Limits, Paris Olympics

Resumo

With each Olympic Games athletes are expected to break new records. Sport science experts have been speculating for years whether we are reaching the limits of human ability. But they may be overlooking the fields where there’s untapped potential: women’s sports.

ARK
Persistent identifier
— ark:/40019/oly.v2i.17.g27

Biografias Autor

Jessica Pinchbeck, The Open University

Lecturer in Sport and Fitness

Candice Lingam-Willgoss, The Open University

Lecturer in Sport and Fitness

Referências

Image Source: Luiza Moraes/COB

(1) Stetka B. Have We Reached the Athletic Limits of the Human Body? [Internet]. Scientific American. 2016. Available from: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/have-we-reached-the-athletic-limits-of-the-human-body/

(2) Olympians are approaching the limits of human performance [Internet]. Washington Post. Available from: https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/olympics/interactive/2024/olympics-records-athletes-unbreakable-human-limit/

(3) Hunter SK, Angadi SS, Bhargava A, Harper J, Hirschberg AL, Levine BD, et al. The Biological Basis of Sex Differences in Athletic Performance: Consensus Statement for the American College of Sports Medicine. Translational Journal of the American College of Sports Medicine [Internet]. 2023;8(4):1. Available from: https://journals.lww.com/acsm-tj/fulltext/2023/10130/the_biological_basis_of_sex_differences_in.5.aspx

(4) Santisteban KJ, Lovering AT, Halliwill JR, Minson CT. Sex Differences in VO2max and the Impact on Endurance-Exercise Performance. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health [Internet]. 2022 Apr 19;19(9):4946. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9105160/

(5) Gender Budgeting [Internet]. Women in Sport. Available from: https://womeninsport.org/creating-change/policy-positions/gender-budgeting/

(6) Topping A. Women’s sport is underfunded and ignored, charity claims [Internet]. The Guardian. 2012. Available from: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2012/oct/24/womens-sport-underfunded-ignored-charity-claims

(7) The Collective® [Internet]. The Collective® . 2014 [cited 2024 Aug 8]. Available from: https://wearethecollective.com/new-economy-of-sports

(8) Girls are still unable to dream of reaching the top in sport [Internet]. Women in Sport. 2023. Available from: https://womeninsport.org/news/girls-are-still-unable-to-dream-of-reaching-the-top-in-sport/

(9) Association TF. Report: England 2-1 Germany [Internet]. https://www.englandfootball.com. Available from: https://www.englandfootball.com/england/womens-senior-team/fixtures-results/2022/England-germany-match-page-uefa-womens-euro-2022-final-831-july-2022

(10) Athletes are going faster, higher, and farther—thanks to technology and smarts. National Geographic news [Internet]. 2023 Apr 10; Available from: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/article/building-a-better-athlete

(11) Cowley ES, Olenick AA, McNulty KL, Ross EZ. “Invisible Sportswomen”: the Sex Data Gap in Sport and Exercise Science Research. Women in Sport and Physical Activity Journal. 2021 Sep 21;29(2):146–51.

(12) Piggott LV, Matthews JJK. Gender, Leadership, and Governance in English National Governing Bodies of Sport: Formal Structures, Rules, and Processes. Journal of Sport Management. 2020;35(4):1–14.

(13) The need for further research into female athletes in sports research | Feature from King’s College London [Internet]. www.kcl.ac.uk. Available from: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/female-athletes-sports-research

(14) Garmin. What’s a Good VO2 Max for Me? [Internet]. Garmin Blog. 2020. Available from: https://www.garmin.com/en-US/blog/fitness/whats-a-good-vo2-max-for-me/

(15) Ansdell P, Thomas K, Hicks KM, Hunter SK, Howatson G, Goodall S. Physiological sex differences affect the integrative response to exercise: acute and chronic implications. Experimental Physiology. 2020 Oct 17;105(12):2007–21.

(16) Emmonds S, Heyward O, Jones B. The Challenge of Applying and Undertaking Research in Female Sport. Sports Medicine - Open [Internet]. 2019 Dec;5(1). Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6908527/

(17) L’Heveder A, Chan M, Mitra A, Kasaven L, Saso S, Prior T, et al. Sports Obstetrics: Implications of Pregnancy in Elite Sportswomen, a Narrative Review. Journal of Clinical Medicine. 2022 Aug 25;11(17):4977.

(18) Lingam-Willgoss C. The Open University. Openacuk [Internet]. 2023 Aug 7 [cited 2024 Aug 8]; Available from: https://oro.open.ac.uk/91337/

(19) Meet the team GB mums going for gold in the Olympics [Internet]. Mother & Baby. 2024 [cited 2024 Aug 8]. Available from: https://www.motherandbaby.com/family-life/influencers-inspiration/olympic-mums-team-gb/

(20) The Olympics: A visual guide to the history and story of the Games [Internet]. BBC Sport. Available from: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/extra/xawtd9l5mx/visual-guide-to-the-olympics

(21) Haskell R. Serena Williams on Her Pregnancy, Motherhood and Making Her Tennis Comeback [Internet]. Vogue. Vogue; 2018. Available from: https://www.vogue.com/article/serena-williams-vogue-cover-interview-february-2018

(22) Goulding G. Five world records that are under threat at Olympic Games Paris 2024 [Internet]. Olympics.com. International Olympic Committee; 2024 [cited 2024 Aug 9]. Available from: https://olympics.com/en/news/five-world-records-that-could-be-broken-olympic-games-paris-2024

(23) Pender K. Mollie O’Callaghan dethrones Ariarne Titmus in epic Olympic showdown. The Guardian [Internet]. 2024 Jul 29; Available from: https://www.theguardian.com/sport/article/2024/jul/30/mollie-ocallaghan-beats-ariarne-titmus-paris-olympic-200m-freestyle