By Koketso Mamabolo
The 33rd Summer Olympic Games held in Paris were what everyone expected and more. The organisers chose a new canvas for the opening ceremony, opting for the river Seine rather than the traditional stadium which set the tone for two weeks which may one day be remembered as an inflection point in the world of sports. For the first time in the event's history there was an even split in the number of men and women competing on one of the world’s greatest stages, over a century after women first began participating, at the Paris Olympics of 1900.
The games that followed saw the number rising and falling but after London 1924 the number kept increasing with women making up 47.8% of the participants at Tokyo 2020. Finally the ceiling was breached.
A memorable part of the well-coordinated play on the Seine were statues paying tribute to ten Frenchwomen, including the philosopher and feminist pioneer Simone de Beauvior, and Alice Milliat, the champion of women’s sports whose work contributed to women having their place in the Olympics.
The last victory ceremony has usually been reserved for the men’s marathon, the final athletics event, but in celebration of the Women’s March on Versailles, the women’s marathon closed off the games with two of Africa’s diamonds, Tigst Assefa from Ethiopia and Hellen Obiri of Kenya making it onto the podium with the gold medallist, Canada’s Sifan Hassan, taking home silver and bronze respectively. A scheduling change which may set the precedent for future events.
Women representing African nation’s won 16 medals including six gold medals. Kenya’s Beatrice Chebet was the biggest winner, clinching gold in both the 5 000m and 10 000m track events. South Africa’s Tatjana Smith retained her OIympic swimming title in the 100m breaststroke and took silver in the 200m event. First place in the 1 500m track event went to Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon who came second to her teammate Beatrice Chebet in the 5 000m.
Artistic gymnast Kaylia Nemour won gold in the uneven bars event as did fellow Algerian Imane Khalif, the boxer who came out on top in the 60 kg weight category despite torrents of online abuse which point to the progress which still needs to be made in removing challenges for women in sports.