US women dominated medal count at Tokyo Olympics in ways they've never done before

Christine Brennan

Of Team USA's 113 medals at these Games, 66 were won by women and 41 were won by men. (Six of the medals were won in mixed events featuring male and female athletes.)

The 66 medals is the most ever won by U.S. women at an Olympics.

Not only was this the fourth consecutive Summer Olympics in which U.S. women won more medals than U.S. men, it was the third consecutive Summer Games in which women outnumbered men on the U.S. team.

There is absolutely no secret why this is happening. It's because of Title IX, the U.S. law signed by President Richard Nixon in June 1972 that mandated equal treatment for girls and women in sports, opening the floodgates for the participation of millions of female athletes over the last half century.

To that end, it's possible to chart the increasing importance of Title IX in the changing face of U.S. Olympic teams.

At the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, Team USA was comprised of 375 men and 271 women, with men winning 58.4 percent of the medals to 38.6 percent for the women, with three medals in mixed events.

Ironically, those Games became known as the "Women's Olympics" due to the introduction of softball and women's soccer as well as stellar performances by women in gymnastics, swimming and basketball, among other sports.

By 2008 in Beijing, women still were outnumbered by men on the U.S. team, 282 to 306, but that was the first time U.S. women won more medals than U.S. men, 56-55.

Four years later in London, for the first time ever, more women were on the U.S. team than men, 268-262, with women winning 58 medals to 45 for the men, with one medal in a mixed event.

This trend is expected to carry on in future Olympic Games, but not without some hard work.

"For progress to continue," Ledecky said, "we're going to have to continue to advocate for equality for female sports, not be afraid to speak out, to pursue legal and political remedies and have a seat in corporate boardrooms, and not be timid about participating in those processes that will continue to bring change."

Said Olympic gold medalist and Title IX attorney Nancy Hogshead-Makar, who is fighting for colleges to eliminate persistent inequality in their support of women's sports: "These outstanding performances by America's women's team in Tokyo are the tip of the iceberg of women's potential."

Yes, and a shout-out to Allyson Felix, the most decorated U.S. Olympic track athlete (11 medals, two of them in the most recent 2020 Olympics), male or female, ever. You may remember the story I shared about her on the first page of this thread. She partnered with her sponsor, Athleta — which Simone Biles left Nike to join — and the Women's Sports Foundation to create The Power of She Fund: Child Care Grants. The grant program has committed $200,000 to help fund child care costs for mothers who are also athletes while they are traveling to competitions. Grant recipients receive $10,000 each. Allyson Felix is mom to 2 year old Camryn.

Serenity. The treatment of pregnant, unmarried girls and women until more recent decades is a subject that greatly enrages me. I've read numerous books on the topic and saw the movie "Philomena". It renders me almost speechless at how these (usually young) women were ostracized, shamed and disgraced. A majority were sent away to have their babies and give them up for adoption, countless mothers and children's lives forever altered because "social morals" hated that these women had a penis in their vagina that resulted in a big fat pregnant belly now a baby is going to come out of your vagina how disgusting she isn't even married.

From the article you posted: Ireland's Prime Minister said it well: ""We did this to ourselves, we treated women exceptionally badly...all of society was complicit in it." One religious order said in a statement "For our part, we want to sincerely apologize to those who did not get the care and support they needed and deserved. It is a matter of great sorrow to us that babies died while under our care."

A lot of good their sorrow does now.

This is a massive area where religion has failed. It insisted, and some still do, that all women be Virgin Mary until they are married. Rigid church teachings about sex lead to horrific sexual repression and from that, there is all manner of fallout. The church also insists women be submissive. Be good little girls. Oh, you're pregnant? Well, be more submissive and go to this home for unwed mothers, give birth, give your baby away, "forget about it" and go on with your life as if it never happened. Now don't go and shame your family, girl.

Betrayal, I agree, there are many problematic religions. The story you tell of your brother and your niece is a tragic one. It is an horrific side of religion, pitting its followers against their own families. This has never made sense to me and another reason why I no longer call myself Christian or believe in some kind of male god. Your brother gets a lot out of being a JW so that's why he stays. You are smart to cut ties with him. I love your response to him of preferring hell over spending eternity with the JWs.

Alice, it was in yet another book I was reading by a woman who'd fled the FLDS cult that I sat looking at a photo of her with her 26 sisters all dressed in the long pastel dresses with that bizarre hairstyle that it dawned on me, yes, like the sun slowly rising from the east, how Christianity was a watered-down version of a cult. It was epiphany-like, where I quietly sat there sifting, sifting through everything I believed to be true and realized there was much re-thinking to do. As the blinders fell from my eyes, I saw the patriarchy for the first time. One you see it, you can never unsee it.

For the record, I do my best to respect the faith of others. For many years, I got a lot out of Christianity and will even go so far as to say in my early 20s, it literally saved my life and sanity (long story). I don't go around trying to get people to renounce their religion or belief in God. It's just that I've evolved and moved on from Christian beliefs.

To put it another way, how many fathers are so invested in their sons virginity? What kind of a reaction would a father have back in the day if he learned his son was still a virgin 8 months after he was married? Would he give his son a big hug and say “I knew you were a good boy?” The truth is that a father would have wondered what was wrong with his son, why didn’t he take what was rightfully his? He would worry that his son did not have normal sexual urges. He’d worry that his son might be gay. He would think his son was not quite manly enough.

Yet society insisted the only acceptable role for females was to be a “good girls”, to the extent that married females would still be referred to as girls and not women. Some parents still want to infantalize their daughters even after they are married, work full time, bear children and take on large amounts of responsibilities. Keep ‘em in their place, minimize their accomplishments and insist they continue to submit even as they hold up half the sky.