For the first time in Olympic history, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has distributed its total athlete count equally where, at the Paris Olympics this summer, 5250 male athletes and 5250 female athletes competed in the summer games.
124 years earlier, women made up just 2.2% of the total athletes at the Paris Olympics in 1900, when they were first allowed to compete.
Although the IOC has been slowly increasing female participation in the Olympic games in the past decades, from 22.8% participation in Los Angeles 1984 to 47.8% in Tokyo 2020, Paris 2024 highlights a significant accomplishment and step forward in the fight for gender equality in the sports world.
“Watching the Olympics was special to me,” Caroline O’Connell ’25, a female athlete on the soccer and flag football team at Riordan commented, “It was filled with moments of awe as athletes showcased their incredible talents, dedication, and sportsmanship. The achievements of the competitors raised a sense of unity between all the countries, and especially all genders.”
Furthermore, US women won 26 of the 40 gold medals, taking home more total medals than the men, with 69 of 125 medals won by the US.
With more people watching the Olympics now more than ever, this achievement has brought more than an equal quota, but more equal coverage in media and access to opportunities like equal pay and valuable resources.
Josie Espinoza-Schleicher ’25, who had the opportunity to see the Olympics in person said, “I think some of biggest achievements with reaching gender equality in the olympics and competitive sports over all has been more attention to more sports in general, some are now even getting equal pay and prize money which is a huge deal in sports and for women’s sports they’re getting more media coverage as well.”