There were many memorable moments at Paris 2024, but the most memorable was when female athletes Really Something surprising happened at the Games. For one thing, of the 126 Olympic medals won by U.S. team athletes, more than half, 67, were won by women. In fact, this figure is Third Of all the countries on the medals table.
Additionally, the largest team in the field, the U.S. team, has sent more women to the Olympics than men for the fourth straight time (315 women to 279 men). Census.gov.
And it’s not just about the athletes on Team USA: In the run up to this year’s Olympics, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has gone all out to achieve gender equality by increasing the number of gender-neutral and co-ed events (including mixed relays in track and field and swimming). This year marked the first Olympics to feature an equal number of male and female participants, according to the IOC.
Hundreds of female athletes from around the world showed off incredible speed, power, skill and more on the world stage. Here are 10 ways women made history at the Paris Games.
1. Lauren Scruggs becomes the first Black American medalist in women’s individual fencing.
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Lauren Scruggs, a 21-year-old Harvard student on the U.S. team, broke barriers by winning silver in the individual foil in Paris. “I grew up fencing and there was no one like me,” she said in an interview. ABC News“My success has helped to break down the stereotypes of what black people can do and who can be a fencer,” Scruggs added. Peter Westbrook Foundation And I said, “I don’t just fence for myself, I fence for the kids back home.”
