Canada’s women Olympians and Paralympians ready to grab the spotlight
This article was originally published on TSN.
July 23, 2024 – Allison Sandmeyer-Graves, CEO, Canadian Women & Sport
As the Paris Olympics and Paralympics approach, the spotlight on women’s sports in Canada shines brighter than ever. Over the past four years, it’s clear that the landscape has transformed: women’s sport in Canada has been elevated to unprecedented heights.
At the 2020 Tokyo Games, inspiring athletes like Maggie MacNeil, Camryn Rogers, Maude Charron, and Aurélie Rivard were some of the standout faces of Canadian women’s sports. And who can forget when the Women’s National Soccer Team captured the nation’s heart with their historic gold medal victory?
Our women Olympians and Paralympians collectively symbolize Canada’s pride and potential.
Their trials and triumphs inspire girls and women across the country to dust off their running shoes, sign up for swimming lessons, and push a little further at morning practice.
However, as shared in a recent article, “inspiration doesn’t break down the barriers that prevent so many young people from participating in the first place.”
And girls face a disproportionate number of barriers. In fact, 1 in 3 girls drop out of sport by the time they reach adolescence (compared to 1 in 10 boys). Girls cite lack of quality experiences, cost of participation, and lack of confidence as some of the main barriers keeping them out of sport.
Harnessing Olympic inspiration requires Canadian sport organizations and leaders at all levels to design girl-centric, accessible environments and programs that attract and keep diverse Canadian girls in sport. It also requires sustained investment from all levels of government and corporate partners. Only when this happens will we be able to fully capture the inspiration of the Olympics and Paralympics and turn it into participation.