By Tara Kurup
Image via Business Insider
It is the summer of 2021, which means the Olympic games are taking place! After the games were cancelled last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the world was extremely disappointed. The athletes had trained for this summer to come, but COVID-19 did not stop us. The games had been rescheduled for the summer of 2021 in Tokyo.
The first Olympics featuring females was the 1900 Paris Olympics, which only had 22 women out of the 1,000 athletes. The amount of female representation this year is extraordinary. According to the IOC, this year will have the first gender-balanced olympics. Let’s take a look at these amazing women who are representing their countries all around the world.
Carissa Moore
Image via POPSUGAR
Carissa Moore is part of the United States of America’s Olympic surfing team. Surfing was a sport that was added to the 2021 games. Born in Hawaii, Moore has been surfing since she was five years old. In 2010, she won Rookie of the Year, and competed in multiple other surfing competitions. Following this victory, she won three more events and earned her first title the next season when she was 18, which made her the youngest to win a surfing title. Going to world tour after world tour, she secured a spot for herself on the 2020 USA surfing team. “The goal is to give back and encourage them to be strong, beautiful, confident young women – and also to give back in turn,” said Moore. Moore won a gold medal in women’s surfing this year.
Sky Brown
Image via Tokyo Weekender
Sky Brown was born on July 7, 2008 in Great Britain. She is a skateboarder on the Great Britain team, another sport that was added in this year’s Olympics. She will soon be the youngest British Olympian, at the age of 13. She placed bronze at the 2019 Park World Championships, giving her a spot in the Olympics. Brown says she doesn’t train or have a coach for skateboarding. She just likes to do tricks and wants to show them to Tokyo. “I don’t feel any nerves. It will be really cool to be the youngest Olympian. I want to be in the Olympics to inspire other girls, to show them you can do anything. I’m excited for Tokyo,” said Brown. Brown won a bronze medal in women’s skateboarding this year.
P.V. Sindhu
Image via Indian Express
P.V. Sindhu was born on July 5th, 1995 in Hyderabad, India. She represents the India female badminton team. As a child, Sindu loved to watch badminton players on television and was advanced at the age of eight. She won titles like the All India Ranking Championship, and the Sub-Junior Nationals. She won first at the 2012 Asian Junior Championships, which was a major victory. She then won first at the Commonwealth Games in 2018. Another major victory was the silver placement at the Rio 2016 Olympics. She became the first Indian woman to win a silver medal at the Olympics. Sindhu won a bronze medal in this years olympics.
Simone Biles
Image via People
Simone Biles was born on March 14, 1997 in Columbus, Ohio. She is part of the USA Gymnastics team. Biles took an interest in gymnastics at a young age, winning the 2013 World Championship at 16 years old. The following year she won 8 golds total at the 2014 and 2015 World Championships. During the 2016 Rio Olympics, Biles won gold in 3 events, and placed bronze in one. A remarkable thing Biles has done recently was becoming the first person to land the Yurchenko Double Pike, an extremely difficult and complex move. Biles withdrew from this year's Olympics halfway to focus on her mental health, but we support her and respect her decision. She watched her teammates from the side and cheered them on. A notable quote of hers is “I’m not the next Usain Bolt or Micheal Phelps- I’m the first Simone Biles.” The women’s gymnastics team won silver and bronze this year.
These five women have done exceptional moves of power, to show the world females are capable of anything. Their power and strength have greatly helped their teams, especially in sports that are known to be male-dominated. Their legacy and the legacy of female olympians before them shall carry on for centuries. Our generation shall continue this legacy of representation as well.
Written by writer Tara Kurup
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