Women in the Olympic
Games 2008
In the beginning of the Olympic Games, women were excluded, this therefore began the women's version of the Olympic Games called the Hera which they competed to honour the Greek Goddess. The first official Olympic Games women were permitted to compete in where in 1900; they were allowed to compete in golf and tennis.
Since the beginning of the Olympics women have worked their way into each and every sport men participate in and many Olympic years, women are taking home the gold. Of course the IOC made the obvious decision to keep men and women's sports and competitions separate right from the beginning to make each and every game fair for the athletes involved.
The very first woman to win a gold medal was Charlotte Cooper who competed in an individual women's event. Once this obstacle was beat, women from all over the world began to see the hope and opportunity the Olympic Games could bring for them. The year 1904 brought new sports for women such as archery and boxing and this was only the beginning as today, women compete in the exact same sports as men.
Many historians and scholars feel that the permit of women in the original Greek Olympics was one of the first steps to the change and complete dominance of Greece as a whole. By choosing to include women in the Olympic Games, this has made the event of the Olympics a more cultural and even a fuller experience for each and every person and household throughout the world. By including each and every country, race and sex in the games, this has made the Olympics the amazing event that it is today.
Although the IOC allowed the participation of women in the games as early as 1900, there were no women on the International Olympic Committee until 1981. This is something that brought a great deal of controversy to the IOC from eyes from every corner of the globe. By electing a woman member in 1981 they redeemed their reputation and managed to maintain the prestigious reputation of the games as well.
Looking at the athletes of today, many of the greatest athletes in the world are women and this can be accounted for in any of the Olympic status a sport including hockey, track, swimming, skiing and the list goes on and on. Women have given themselves a chance to not only compete against each other in the greatest athletic competition ever to be created but they also get a chance to show the world that not only men can succeed in the world of sports and athleticism.
Olympic Beijing Tickets
The women of today train just as hard and just as long as the men in order to make it and be qualified to participate in these games and the 2008 Summer Olympics are going to be no different. Thousands of women from around the world will have the opportunity to fly to the Forbidden City to experience not only the culture of the country itself but compete against some of the best women athletes in the world.
