Women's Performance

Croissants and Commentary #3: The Surprising Sexist History of the Olympics — And Why It Still Matters


Listen Later

Why do we spend so much time talking about the history of women's sports? Because what doctors, coaches, and fans think women are capable of on the track or field changes how women are viewed in all parts of society. Like how women's colleges had mandatory rest days for their female students, because women were believed to be too physically weak to handle the stress of attending school.

Today, Sara and Kelly talk about surprising moments in the Olympics that have been lost to misogyny and inaccurate coverage. And, Kelly speaks to Maggie Merton about her new book "Better Faster Farther: How Running Changed Everything We Know About Women."

Maggie dives into the history to examine how doctors, coaches, sports associations, and the media fought hard to keep women out of sports. They misreported what really happened, lied about races, and perpetuated medical myths that simply weren't true.

But it's time to learn about all the surprising moments you might not have known from the Olympics and the history of women's sports. Like the female athlete pioneers, including: 

  • Stamatis Rovithi, who actually ran the marathon at the very first modern Olympics in 1896
  • Diane Leather, who was the first woman to break the 5-minute mile
  • Alice Milliat, who started a separate Women’s Olympic Games 
  • Jasmin Paris, who was the first woman to finish the Barkley Marathons

Where we are now is a product of where we came from, and still shapes things today.

Sign up to Receive The Feisty 40+ Newsletter:

https://www.feistymenopause.com/blog/Feisty-40-plus

Sign up to Receive The Feist Newsletter:

https://www.womensperformance.com/the-feist


Follow us on Instagram:

@feisty_womens_performance

Feisty Media Website:

https://livefeisty.com/

https://www.womensperformance.com/

Support our Partners:

Previnex: Get 15% off your first order with the code PERFORMANCE at https://www.previnex.com/



...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Women's PerformanceBy Sara Gross, PhD

  • 4.4
  • 4.4
  • 4.4
  • 4.4
  • 4.4

4.4

27 ratings


More shows like Women's Performance

View all
Another Mother Runner by Another Mother Runner

Another Mother Runner

1,319 Listeners

Consummate Athlete Podcast by Molly Hurford & Peter Glassford

Consummate Athlete Podcast

111 Listeners

Velo Podcast by Velo

Velo Podcast

523 Listeners

The Strength Running Podcast by Jason Fitzgerald

The Strength Running Podcast

1,282 Listeners

Crushing Iron Triathlon Podcast by C26 Triathlon

Crushing Iron Triathlon Podcast

704 Listeners

That Triathlon Show by Mikael Eriksson

That Triathlon Show

400 Listeners

Feisty Triathlon by Feisty Triathlon podcast

Feisty Triathlon

189 Listeners

If We Were Riding by If We Were Riding

If We Were Riding

69 Listeners

The Ready State Podcast by With Kelly and Juliet Starrett

The Ready State Podcast

307 Listeners

FasCat Cycling Training Tips Podcast by FasCat Cycling Training Tips Podcast

FasCat Cycling Training Tips Podcast

324 Listeners

King of the Ride by Ted King

King of the Ride

631 Listeners

The Peter Attia Drive by Peter Attia, MD

The Peter Attia Drive

7,776 Listeners

Fast Talk by Fast Talk Labs

Fast Talk

309 Listeners

The Time-Crunched Cyclist Podcast by CTS by CTS

The Time-Crunched Cyclist Podcast by CTS

103 Listeners

Girls Gone Gravel podcast by Girls Gone Gravel

Girls Gone Gravel podcast

73 Listeners

Afternoon Snack by Meredith Root and Alex Parker

Afternoon Snack

199 Listeners

[un]phased podcast by [un]phased podcast

[un]phased podcast

19 Listeners

Hit Play Not Pause by Hit Play Not Pause

Hit Play Not Pause

699 Listeners

The Business of Fitness by Feisty Media

The Business of Fitness

5 Listeners

All Bodies on Bikes by Marley Blonsky

All Bodies on Bikes

47 Listeners

Your Diet Sucks by Zoë Rom

Your Diet Sucks

94 Listeners