Sports are typically dominated by men, and the media typically holds men sports higher than their counterparts. With that being said, there were plenty of women that stood out during the Olympic games and put on a show. These were my favorite:
1. Allyson Felix
No rookie to the Olympics, Allyson became the only track and field woman to win six Olympic gold medals. Always a classy act and forever a team player as well as an individual superstar, Allyson shined this year at the Olympics. I love to watch her run against the best and win more times than not. I hope this wasn’t her last Olympic Games because she has been dominating (I just hope next time she wins the individual gold).
2. Laurie Hernandez
On
a team with a dominate Simone Biles, Laurie was always the gymnast that I would
get excited to see. She always had a genuine joy to be in Rio, and it was
contagious. Her smile and compassion for gymnastics and her teammates, I
believe, put Laurie in a category all on her own. I would love when Simone was
on floor and the cameras would pan to Hernandez. It was alway as if she wanted
her teammate to do her best every night—even when competing against each other.
It is so easy to sometimes to get put against each other and to let competition
ruin building friendships, but I could see that this was not the case for
Hernandez.
3. Katie Ledecky
Katie held a certain confidence to her throughout the Olympics that was inspiring. It wasn’t cocky, it was simply having trust in all the hard work that she put into getting ready for the Olympics. At such a young age, Katie has broken records and done it with poise. I’m sure she is going to set more goals before 2020 in Tokyo and I can’t wait to see if she accomplishes them.
4. Sanya Richards Ross
I
was so sad when Sanya didn’t make the Olympics this year. I have grown up
watching her participate in the Olympics, and not seeing her challenge Allyson
Felix in the 400m was a bit different. But due to injury, she was forced to
retire at only 31. Don’t let that upset you though because Sanya still went to
Rio! Sanya got the opportunity to be a commentator with NBC. I liked that even
though she was not able to participate in the sport that she is known to
dominate, she still found a way to be involved with the sport that she loves.
The 2016 Olympic Games were dominated with coverage of Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt, but there was not enough coverage of the women that were dominating the Olympics such as Madeline Dirado and Simone Manuel. This is not a new argument, but I do challenge media to be better in the future. Society is changing drastically as we move forward and I am sure it will be different in 2020.
