Clearing the Hurdles: On and Off the Track

When the modern Olympic Games were first held in 1896, all 241 participants were male athletes. Four years later, when the games went to Paris, women started competing for the first time; though, with only 22 female athletes out of a total of 997, representation was only nominal. 116 years later, at Rio in 2016, the games showcased a far better picture of parity with around 45% of the 11238 athletes being women. This century-long journey of gender sensitization was certainly not without major hurdles.

Talking of hurdles, take the 400m hurdles event for instance. The men’s competition was first seen at the quadrennial games in 1900. For the same event to be made available for women at the Summer Olympics, it took another 84 years. It was in 1984, when the world saw the first women’s 400m hurdles event at the Olympics. That race is now part of Indian sports folklore, for we saw our track queen P T Usha coming very close to winning a medal and missing out by the barest of margins. She finished the race in the 4th place, in 55.42 seconds, missing the bronze medal by one-hundredth of a second. It was the closest we came to winning an individual medal at the Olympic games since KD Jadhav won a wrestling bronze at Helsinki in 1952. The medal drought was ended by Leander Paes in 1996, and since then, many athletes have made us proud through their exploits at the Olympics.

This 400m hurdles event in 1984 was a big story for Indian sports, but what many of us don't cognize is the fact that the same race had a bigger story for the world at large. With the Eastern Bloc nations boycotting Los Angeles ’84, this event was seen as an opportunity for many to strike gold. The one who ended up winning it was Moroccan athlete Nawal El Moutewakel, who became the first ever Arab African woman to win an Olympic Gold, and the first ever Moroccan, male or female, to win an Olympic Gold. In fact her country had won only one Olympic medal prior to her famous victory in LA, a silver in 1960. While she was the only female competitor from Morocco at the 1984 Olympics, she had 33 male compatriots who participated in different events. Moutewakel’s victory gave a huge impetus for more women from Morocco and neighboring countries to compete at the highest level across various sports disciplines. Trailblazers like her become icons, inspiring others and paving the way for larger social movements.

Moutewakel’s parents were sportspersons themselves and they believed in her dream, while Usha had a supporting family and an eco-system that included a newly opened Sports School for girls in her state. There are many girls, though, for whom the route to the big stage is full of hurdles quite different from the ones these two champs encountered on the track at Los Angeles. A good number of them end up in situations where they need to irrefutably prove their superiority in certain fields to get an even chance, for a shot at the highest level of success. Historically, sport was not seen as a forte for women, owing to gender stereotypes that got reinforced over centuries. Recent years have seen significant changes in this regard, and affirmative actions at different levels have contributed to gender parity in sports and many other walks of life. Being an athlete can change the way a woman sees herself. She is physically stronger, independent and more in control of her life, her self-concept being a far cry from that of the woman who conforms to the clichés of fragility.

Sport heals, it unifies, it breaks the barriers of prejudice, it can be the harbinger of social changes; it is a great platform for mainstreaming of issues pertaining to gender sensitization. Adoption of a healthy lifestyle, inspired by sporting activities, should be an option available to all men and women. The presence of role models acts as a source of inspiration for young girls, and at the highest level, the IOC has consistently furthered the cause of female participation at the Olympic Games. While Paris Olympics in 1900 saw the share of female athletes at 2.2%, the number increased over the years to 10.5% in 1952, 23% in 1984, 38.2% in 2000 and as high as 45% at Rio in 2016. In India, it is heartening to note that apart from key members of the Indian men’s cricket team, the list of leading athletes in terms of endorsement related income has a strong presence of women in individual sports who have made a mark on the world stage. 2019 was a year in which many Indian women athletes got recognition at the international level. While PV Sindhu won the Women’s Singles Title at the World Badminton Championships, we also had other daughters of the nation who made us proud last year, like Hima Das in Athletics, Saikhom Mirabai Chanu in weightlifting, Aishwarya Pissay in Motorsport, and sprinter Dutee Chand who made it to the ‘TIME 100 NEXT’ list, to name a few. The more coverage they get in mainstream media, the greater the groundswell for the aspirations for girls in professional sports in the country.

It is time we consider such extraordinary performers as athletes first, and men or women later. Serena Williams, one of the greatest tennis players ever, was once asked about being considered ‘one of the greatest female athletes of all time’. Her reply elucidated this thought perfectly; she said “I prefer the words – one of the greatest athletes of all time”.

Let me end this note with a question; should be a piece of cake for us because cricket is immensely popular in our country. Who is the first player to score an ODI double century?

Answer: Belinda Clark of Australia (229* in 1997).

The first male cricketer to do it was, of course, Sachin Tendulkar.