Despite all the attention this weekend being on Kipchoge running a sub 2 hour marathon and Japan’s success at the Rugby World Cup, there were three phenomenal sportswomen who added their names to the history books who need to be recognised. On Sunday, Simone Biles became the most decorated gymnast in World Championships history, adding two more gold medals to her already impressive haul. Kenya's Brigid Kosgei eclipsed Radcliffe's 16-year-old record with a time of 2:14:04 as she retained her title at the Chicago Marathon and Coco Gauff became the youngest player to win a WTA title in 15 years with victory over Jelena Ostapenko in the Linz Open final.
Also, earlier this month, Dina Asher-Smith became the first British woman to win a major global sprint title as she stormed to victory in 200m at the World Championships. The 23-year-old, who also won silver in the 100m, outclassed the field to take gold in a British record of 21.88 seconds. Furthermore Katarina Johnson-Thompson ended her wait for her first global outdoor title by powering to heptathlon gold at the World Championships in Doha, with a British record of 6,981 points. Both women have overcome their demons and come out on top and are a great advert to women and girls all over the world who now have athletes to aspire to be.
Although women’s sport has changed for the better over the past few years with increased funding, acceptance, interest and participation, there is still room for improvement. Women are still fighting for sporting equality. As Gemma Lloyd (CEO, Work180) said, “In sport, we need more women that are visible role models. This will only happen if the sport is supported financially to be televised and the players are supported financially to make a career out of it.” And it is now looking like this is really happening and that the future is bright for women in sport.
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