There’s something big happening at the Summer Olympics this year.
Women were dominating the podium for Canada, garnering the majority of the medal count more than halfway into the games.
Andre De Grasse, who earned a bronze medal in the men’s 100m, was the first Canadian to medal in the event since Donovan Bailey’s gold in 1996 and the first Canadian male to reach the podium in Rio.
Swimmer Penny Oleksiak, 16, was the first Canadian to win a gold medal in Brazil, eventually making history as the first Canadian to win four medals in a single edition of the Olympic Summer Games.
Canadians should be proud of these amazing athletes.
However, what I have (happily) observed in these games is that sexist comments toward female athletes, which happen during many athletic competitions, are being put in their proper place: the garbage.
That’s right. Female athletes, after facing the incredible struggle of actually making it to the Olympics, are still facing sexist comments.
It can be as slight as an offhand stereotype or as blatant as body shaming, but female athletes still face ridiculous insults.
Take, for example, Hungarian swimmer Katinka Hosszú, whose husband and coach was credited by an NBC reporter “as the man responsible” for Hosszú’s gold medal win and world record in the 400m individual medley in swimming.
Or how about three-time American Olympian Corey Cogdell-Unrein who was reduced to “wife of Bear’s lineman” in a Chicago Tribune headline after winning a bronze medal in trap shooting.
Or when American swimmer Katie Ledecky, who has won four gold and one silver in Rio, was said to “swim like a guy” by fellow teammate Ryan Lochte.
Or the body shaming of a Mexican gymnast during and after her routine by Twitter users. Or the women’s judo final between Kosovo’s Majlinda Kelmendi and Italy’s Odette Giuffrida being described as a “cat fight” by a BBC commentator.
I really could go on.
The successes of these athletes are reduced to less than what they should be: a purely amazing feat of human endurance and perseverance.
As a journalist, I cringed at the comments made by experienced professionals. But what stands apart in these cases are the numerous articles about how these aforementioned comments were denounced almost immediately.
Social media has helped to shift the discussion away from both female and male athletes’ marital status, parental status and physical appearance to a place to celebrate victors.
Like Britt Benn, a former Fergus Highland Rugby player and now Canadian bronze medalist, who I had the pleasure of interviewing last week. She helped Team Canada, make history by winning against Great Britain in women’s rugby sevens, a sport making its Olympic debut in Rio.
Benn and Team Canada have become role models for girls in the Highland Rugby Club, and I’m sure for many rugby clubs across the country.
We must remember that these athletes, some still teenagers, are going to be the next generation’s paragons, if they are not already.
Therefore, rather than absurd sexist remarks, let us comment on athletes’ Sportsmanship, their character and how they advance the Olympic spirit.
That’s something the Games should truly be about.
