Ok, before we dive into it, you need to know that the Ladies Figure Skating Free Skate was bonkers. Now that I’ve picked my jaw off the floor, I cannot wait for everyone to watch tonight. The roller coaster begins at 8 PM ET tonight on NBC! You can catch highlights and a commentary-free replay on Peacock, if you so desire, but I recommend getting the full effect and staying off social media and avoiding the news until this evening.
With that, I want to spend some time celebrating the past 24 hours for the women of Team USA and hopefully reframe the narrative a bit. I heard a lot of words like “disappointment” from the (mostly male) commentators and until we have gender parity and equal coverage in sport, I’m not here for double standards. So, here are some highlights from the field of play:
-Mikaela Shiffrin got the fastest downhill training time while preparing for the Alpine Skiing-Combined event.
-Hilary Knight scored a goal for the USA in her 22nd game, the American record for most games played at the Olympics.
-Team USA women’s curling scored 4 points in a single end to tie a game against Japan.
-Jesse Diggins finished the Cross-Country Skiing Team Sprint the way she wanted to: with nothing left.
I bring all of these up because the end result beyond these achievements wasn’t what these ladies set out to do at the Olympics. Mikaela skied out in the Slalom. The US fell to Canada in a gold medal hockey match and the American curling team failed to move past the round robin playoffs. Jesse and her teammate, Rosie Brennan, came in 5th place.
These women deserve to be celebrated and cheered—they are worthy of the same respect, money, and opportunities afforded men in sport. They show it time and time again and yet I couldn’t help but feel like the tone leaned too negative for not having the media or a country’s expectations. Apologies (but not really) for stepping onto my soapbox again, but these athletes deserve to have mentions of the nuances that got them to Beijing in the first place. This type of narrative also takes away attention from the women from other countries who are doing incredible work, stripping the Olympics of what its aim is: international sportsmanship.
Sure, it’s also about winning. Athleticism is about being the best (we love a gold medal!), but these women are the best in their field and to paint a black and white picture of their achievements or alleged lack thereof is unfair. Like Kristen Santos said after her final race in Short Track Speed Skating, “While I’m disappointed with how the results turned out, I’m not disappointed in myself. Luck was not on my side this Games. I have always been someone who works in every race not to rely on luck, and that’s why. I want to earn my positions.” Hear, hear!
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