Vol. 29 No. 318 (2024)
Chepngetich and a new milestone towards gender equality in sport
At a time when we are on the verge of witnessing that a human being can run a marathon in less than two hours, a woman, Ruth Chepngetich, has just broken the 2 hour 10 minute mark. For many, this is an impossible record, but at the same time, a milestone that anticipates that if this trend continues, in a few years some women will equal or even surpass the men's record in this discipline.
If we consider that, it was only in 1984 at the Olympic Games in Los Angeles that the women's marathon was included for the first time, while men had participated since the beginning in 1896, there is a difference in competitive experience in the event of almost 90 years. Taking this parameter into account, the progress of female athletes has been surprising. It is evident that the gap is increasingly smaller, considering that, the Kenyan athlete's record would be an absolute record in 168 countries if the event were held without gender segregation.
If access to resources, specialized training and competition opportunities is not withheld from women, their records will continue to improve as more athletes dedicate themselves to competing at the highest level. The neck-to-neck battle will surely occur sooner than complex mathematics can predict. In this way, we are on the threshold of a new competitive scenario that forces us to rethink assumptions and prejudices deeply rooted in sport, which clearly undermine women, which have already been overcome in other areas of culture.
Tulio Guterman, Director – November 2024
Published:
2024-11-04
