From the vault to the pool: female Olympians making marks on Cedar
At the 2024 Paris Olympics, Team USA took home 126 medals, with over half of those being won by women. The women of Team USA also outperformed the men when winning gold, securing 26 of the USA’s 40 gold medals. Additionally, for the first time in Olympic history, the same number of women and men participated in the Olympics.
“I think they (female Olympians) create a foundation for people who need to be inspired or someone who needs a role model,” senior Mercy Thang, an Aqua Jags swim team member, said.
According to Parity Now, women’s sports only get 15% of sports media coverage, compared to the 68% that men’s sports get according to the University of Florida’s College of Journalism. The rest of that coverage includes co-ed sports. Despite the lack of coverage of women’s sports, there has still been a rise in Team USA’s female athletes.
“I’m watching the Olympics more as I grow older,” junior swimmer Christopher Koch said. “It’s fun to watch, especially with relays and swimming, because you get to see the best swimmers compete at the top level.”
CAN’T CONTAIN CHRIS: Junior and Aqua Jags swimmer Christopher Koch (left) swims freestyle. This stroke is Olympic swimmer Katie Ledecky’s speciality. Ledecky is known as one of the best female swimmers in the world. “I’m watching the Olympics more as I grow older, but I like watching them because it’s seeing the best in the world compete,” Koch said. Photo (left) by Isabella Morgan.
From the vault to the pool, these women have been setting world records left and right. Simone Biles, Suni Lee, Gabby Thomas and Katie Ledecky are all names that made headlines this summer just as they have in the past. Other non-Olympian female athletes, like Caitlin Clark and Coco Gauff, are also making waves.
Of the dozen of women on Team USA that have been making history, two in particular stand out to Thang as inspiring.
“This is gonna sound so generic, but (I look up to) Simone Biles and Suni Lee, because of their stories and everything that they went through that led up to their victory,” Thang said.
Hannah Doolittle, a 10th grade literature teacher and assistant coach for the girls soccer team, feels the same way.
“I mean, probably Simone Biles (inspires me). There’s no doubt about that, and I think a lot of her success just comes from how hard-working she is,” Doolittle said. “I’m really inspired by her being as open and as honest as she has been with her struggles with mental health and how it has affected her, and how she’s worked through it in the public eye. How she’s able to come out and be so vocal is just so inspiring to me.”
APPROACHING COACHING: Lady Jags soccer coach Hannah Doolittle (left) is seen coaching the team. She draws inspiration from Olympic gymnast Simone Biles (right). “There are vaults that are named after her because she’s worked so hard to be able to achieve those. And I think that’s incredible,” Doolittle said. Photo (left) by Isabella Morgan.
Women don’t just inspire other women, they inspire men too. Doolittle thinks that’s just as important.
“It’s not just important for young girls to see these women competing at such a high stage. It’s important for young boys to see women competing at such a high stage,” Doolittle said. “It makes me think of Caitlin Clark and how you see little boys wearing her jersey. That is so powerful. I think the first time I saw a commercial with that I almost cried. It doesn’t just lift women up, it lifts everybody up.”
Koch acknowledges this dynamic as well.
“Especially on the female side, there’s a lot more athletes who are younger. For example, at the recent Olympics, there was a gold medalist, Summer Mcintosh, and she was still in high school. I think that’s inspiring. It proves you don’t have to be that old to do well at that level,” Koch said.
Not only do fans watch these women for inspiration and entertainment, they also watch them to improve themselves. Koch and Thang, both swimmers whose best stroke is freestyle, admit Katie Ledecky catches their eye because of her performance in that stroke.
“I’ve seen her races. I think they’re fun because especially in distance events, I like to try and see how far ahead of the competition I can get. So I try and model my swim after her, and also since her swim style, it’s not very reliant on kick,” Koch said.
Thang admires how dominant Ledecky has been throughout her career.
“Just seeing her finish, minutes or seconds ahead of everyone, it’s really cool,” Thang said.
Not only are these women making marks in the sports industry, they’re also building a path for the athletes that follow.
“It’s a good start, but the fight isn’t over,” Doolittle said. “I’m hopeful that we’ll see more female athletes be celebrated at the level that Catlin Clark and Simone Biles have been, they’re the first. But they’re certainly not the last.”
