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Commentary
The American women are crushing it — and it's a joy to watch
I started watching this year’s Olympics for the women's basketball tournament (and only partly because I’m a NCAA Division III has-been). I've been riding the new popularity of the WNBA and was wondering how USA Basketball could have left the big reason for this popularity — Caitlin Clark — off the Olympic roster. I had to see it for myself.
Of course I was also eager to see superstar athletes such as gymnast Simone Biles and swimmer Katie Ledecky continue to dominate. But as the Games went on, I got more and more invested, discovering less well-known athletes to get excited about. I reupped my Peacock subscription and for the last week, I’ve watched the women’s events whenever I could fit it in, in addition to tuning into primetime coverage. It’s impossible to avoid spoilers throughout the day, but I don’t care. I want to watch gymnast Jordan Chiles’ sassiness in action and see the utter dominance of Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone flying over the hurdles.
It’s been thrilling to watch the American women achieve so much success in this year’s Games. Their accomplishments in Paris are awe-inspiring. These women are strong and athletic and worthy of the increased attention they’ve garnered.
Ledecky notched her ninth Olympic swimming gold medal in Paris — she beat the competition by an incredible 10 seconds in the 1500 freestyle. Simone Biles won her seventh gold medal; she led the U.S. gymnasts to the team all-around title, before picking up two individual gold medals in the all-around and women’s vault competition (she also won a silver medal in the individual floor competition, but who’s counting?). On the track, Gabby Thomas took the gold in the women’s 200M, her first gold in her second Olympics — and the first track and field gold medal ever for a Harvard graduate. Caroline Marks captured the gold in women’s surfing at just 22-years old, and 20-year-old Amit Alor won the gold in women’s freestyle wrestling, becoming the youngest athlete to win an Olympic gold medal for USA wrestling. P.S. Alor is an absolute beast; she shattered her Olympic competition 31-2 and has not lost a match in five years.
Women athletes have accounted for over half of America’s medals in each of the bronze, silver and gold categories. It’s all but assured that after the end of the weekend, for the fourth summer Olympics in a row, American women will have won more medals than the American men. Women’s basketball is heavily favored to win gold once again, tallying its 59th consecutive win in Olympic competition in Wednesday’s quarterfinal matchup against Nigeria. And women’s soccer has been outstanding in a stacked field, beating Germany 1-0 in extra time on Tuesday and advancing to the title game on Saturday against Brazil.
Viewers have clearly been taking note of these performances. Some 12.7 million watched the U.S. women’s gymnastics team win the gold in the team all-around. In its win over Germany on July 28, U.S. women’s soccer averaged 4.2 million viewers — more than all soccer matches, men’s and women’s, in the 2024 and 2021 Olympics.
So we’ve got new viewership records along with some terrific moments outside of the competition. First and foremost, American rugby player Ilona Maher has inspired millions by serving up the ultimate message: it’s good to be a strong woman and your size is your strength. The women of team USA have earned their status as role models and icons in addition to being incredible athletes.
Considering how far women have progressed as athletes over the years in the Olympics — not to mention being included in the Olympics at all — this is no small feat. Remember, men’s basketball became an Olympic event in 1904. The women? Not until 1976. Women’s soccer was only added in 1996, whereas men’s soccer was the first team sport added to the modern Olympics in 1900. Here’s another shocker: the women’s 1500 freestyle swimming event was only added in 2021. And the 2024 Olympics are the first time women athletes have had equal representation at 50 percent.
I was born in 1971, the year before Title IX was signed into law, and started playing sports when I was five — I was the only girl in my hometown playing Little League baseball one year. Athletics have been an important part of my life, as a competitor, a spectator, and in my professional life as a journalist. After I graduated from college, I was the young 20-something who went down to the town basketball courts and insisted on joining the all-men’s pick-up game, in part to see the looks on the men’s faces after 15 minutes, once they'd grudgingly passed me the ball.
As I’ve gotten older, I find a simple joy in lifting weights and feeling strong. As I reflect on the last couple of weeks of women in competition, I’m thinking maybe it’s not just a coincidence that the Barbie movie was released about a year ago. Not to mention the fact that in Kamala Harris, we have a woman of color leading a major party presidential ticket for the first time in American history. As the “Barbie” narrator says, “All of these women are Barbie, and Barbie is all of these women. She might have started out as just a lady in a bathing suit, but she became so much more.” The women I’m watching in the Olympics are a symbol for how deep-rooted attitudes continue to change. Women achieve so much when simply given the chance.
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Watching the Olympics from my couch, I can see young boys in the stands at the U.S. women's soccer matches wearing the players' jerseys and waiting for their autographs. I see the athletes' proud spouses and families embracing them after their events. I see the women embracing their muscles and their femininity, whatever that means to them. It's not exactly equality but we're getting there.
In Paris, the U.S. women have showed that women can do anything and be anything. It’s been such fun to admire these athletes’ perseverance and determination, their sportsmanship and their ability to get the job done.
Equal representation, increased viewership, strength and achievement. I don’t know about you, but I couldn’t think of better role models than these Olympic women athletes. As the 2024 games wrap up, I’ll be cheering for the U.S. women these last few days as they strive for those final medals and personal goals — and continue inspiring people of all ages all over the world.
