NEW DELHI: Women in sports, and especially in Olympic sports, have long been a hot topic of discussion. What is remarkable, however, is that there are certain sports where women are most represented. Olympic Games French have mostly owned. At the start of the millennium, Karnam Malleshwari won a bronze medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics in weightlifting, followed by Saikhom Mirabai Chanu at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Similarly, when it comes to boxing or badminton, only women have held the fort for India, starting with Mary Kom and Saina Nehwal to now Lovlina Borgohain and two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu. Moreover, at the 2016 Rio Olympics, only women won the medals for the country, with Sakshi Malik becoming the first woman wrestler to win an Olympic medal.
Here, Manisha Malhotra, former top Indian tennis player and currently Head of Sports Excellence and Scouting at JSW Sports, talks about the changing landscape of Indian women in Olympic sports.
She notes that the overall participation of women has increased over the years at the top, from just 2.2% in 1990 to 47% today at Tokyo 2020. India itself has fielded a contingent that is 44% women. An interesting perspective here is that the upliftment of women is not limited to sports. Every time we have had women champions, they have played a key role in uplifting the society around them and have also helped break the glass ceiling, allowing more women to take up the sport. If we take just the women’s hockey team, they came fourth at Tokyo 2020, but their performance probably touched more hearts than the men’s hockey team that won a bronze medal after so many years. In other words, I believe the real power of women succeeding in sports is that they bring an element of empathy that no one else in sports can bring.
Changes over the years:
There has definitely been a change in the way women athletes approach sports these days. The biggest positive from a societal perspective is that one of the most male-dominated societies in India, namely Haryana, produces the highest number of female athletes and champions in various sports like boxing, wrestling, athletics and judo. There are so many women from Haryana who have taken up sports in the last decade.
Where can we improve?
Although it is a global challenge, it is important to create a safe environment for women in sports. If we have more women around us, it will definitely boost the ecosystem and create a safe bubble for women to participate in sports. For example, having more women in the administrative system, more women coaches, and more women in mentoring programs will contribute to the larger goal of making the environment more inclusive.
The future is bright:
As talent scouts, we have observed over the years that physically, the younger generation is more progressive than the previous one. What we see today is that more and more women athletes are coming from the North East and Karnataka, and most of them have much stronger basic skills. This could be due to many reasons, including better nutrition, better school environment and even more progressive physical education teachers, but it is a step in the right direction.
The path to follow :
For women’s sport to grow, health and nutrition issues need to be more focused on the needs of female athletes. For example, what are the effects of periods on the body and how can we overcome them? I think the approach needs to be more science-based, which is currently limited mainly to the elite sports segment. But what needs to be done for now is to promote sport as a mass movement, and give women the opportunity and access to sport like everyone else. That’s where real change needs to happen, and only then will we start to see how sport has a direct impact on women’s health and overall well-being. In conclusion, a bottom-up approach is needed.
Here, Manisha Malhotra, former top Indian tennis player and currently Head of Sports Excellence and Scouting at JSW Sports, talks about the changing landscape of Indian women in Olympic sports.
She notes that the overall participation of women has increased over the years at the top, from just 2.2% in 1990 to 47% today at Tokyo 2020. India itself has fielded a contingent that is 44% women. An interesting perspective here is that the upliftment of women is not limited to sports. Every time we have had women champions, they have played a key role in uplifting the society around them and have also helped break the glass ceiling, allowing more women to take up the sport. If we take just the women’s hockey team, they came fourth at Tokyo 2020, but their performance probably touched more hearts than the men’s hockey team that won a bronze medal after so many years. In other words, I believe the real power of women succeeding in sports is that they bring an element of empathy that no one else in sports can bring.
Changes over the years:
There has definitely been a change in the way women athletes approach sports these days. The biggest positive from a societal perspective is that one of the most male-dominated societies in India, namely Haryana, produces the highest number of female athletes and champions in various sports like boxing, wrestling, athletics and judo. There are so many women from Haryana who have taken up sports in the last decade.
Where can we improve?
Although it is a global challenge, it is important to create a safe environment for women in sports. If we have more women around us, it will definitely boost the ecosystem and create a safe bubble for women to participate in sports. For example, having more women in the administrative system, more women coaches, and more women in mentoring programs will contribute to the larger goal of making the environment more inclusive.
The future is bright:
As talent scouts, we have observed over the years that physically, the younger generation is more progressive than the previous one. What we see today is that more and more women athletes are coming from the North East and Karnataka, and most of them have much stronger basic skills. This could be due to many reasons, including better nutrition, better school environment and even more progressive physical education teachers, but it is a step in the right direction.
The path to follow :
For women’s sport to grow, health and nutrition issues need to be more focused on the needs of female athletes. For example, what are the effects of periods on the body and how can we overcome them? I think the approach needs to be more science-based, which is currently limited mainly to the elite sports segment. But what needs to be done for now is to promote sport as a mass movement, and give women the opportunity and access to sport like everyone else. That’s where real change needs to happen, and only then will we start to see how sport has a direct impact on women’s health and overall well-being. In conclusion, a bottom-up approach is needed.
