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The Paris Olympics were billed as the first gender-equal Games and for the first time in their history there were equal medals for men and women, but the Paralympics are still a long way off.
At Tokyo 2020, the 50km walk had only a men’s category, there was a men’s sailing discipline and there was no women’s Greco-Roman wrestling, but four years later the Paris Olympics introduced medal parity.
The Paralympics are still a long way off, however, with only 235 medals for women out of a total of 549 medals, and 271 for men, with the biggest gaps surprisingly seen in swimming and athletics.
“Paris 2024 has always had the ambition to increase the number of female athletes at the Paralympic Games. As the host of one of the world’s largest sporting events, Paris 2024 wanted to make these Games a showcase for greater gender equality in Paralympic sport,” said a Paris 2024 spokesperson. The Independent.
“Of the more than 4,461 athletes competing at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, 1,983 are women, twice as many as at Sydney 2000 and more than the 1,846 female athletes in Tokyo. Of the 549 medal events, 235 are reserved for women. This is eight more than at Tokyo 2020 and 28% more than at Athens 2004.”
“35 NOCs (out of 169) have a record number of female athletes this year, while 27 NOCs have more female athletes than male athletes. In 15 sports, there are more female athletes than at Tokyo 2020.
“In the 64 years of the Paralympic Games, we have almost reached gender parity (55%/45%). At the same time (Rome 1960), the Olympic Games were at 11.4%.”
Progress, however, appears slow. Gender equality in medals and events is expected to be possible by 2024, particularly in sports whose popularity among women is growing exponentially.
The British Paralympic team comprised 46% women of the 215 athletes travelling to Paris, but only 45% of events were open to female athletes.
However, the gap is still clear, with 116 male athletes and just 99 women travelling to represent Great Britain in 19 of the 22 sports included in the Games.
One of the most glaring examples is midge football, where there is an all-male 8-a-side competition, but no women’s medal competition.
In England, the Football Association has had a men’s blind football team almost since its first inclusion in the Games in 2004, with a women’s team set to be created in 2022.
“Of course it is (a shame), it’s not just a shame that it’s not right,” said Catherine Gilby, the Football Association’s head of Paralympic performance. The Independent.
“But you have to look at how the IOC determines which sports are admitted, and there has to be a certain number of very competitive teams in the rankings to justify a place at the Games.
“We don’t know yet if women’s football will be at LA28. There are a lot of rumours that women’s blind football could be part of it and IBSA (International Blind Sports Association) could make sure we have enough teams at a competitive level to be able to push that bid forward.”
The FA was expecting a decision on the potential inclusion of women’s blind football in the LA28 in January this year, but has not heard anything further. The sport is just one of 33 new Paralympic sports that have submitted applications to compete at the next Paralympic Games.
