Myths about women in sport date back at least to the dawn of the Olympics 2,800 years ago, when women weren’t allowed to compete. These myths “remain hard to shake,” according to sports journalist Maggie Mertens . For instance, it wasn't until 1972 that women were allowed to run in the Boston Marathon — it was considered too long and grueling for them physiologically.
In her new book, Better Faster Farther: How Running Changed Everything We Know About Women ( released June 18 ), Mertens explores misconceptions about female athletes — and how through running, women have disproved these myths. Running, says Mertens, “has been used for years and years and years to define women as being lesser than men.” This has caused women to receive less compensation, access, health support and recognition than their male peers in sport.
Better Faster Farther is a relevant read right now, as the Summer Games are set to kick off July 26 in Paris. This year is also the 40th anniversary of the Olympics women’s marathon. “My hope is that it adds a lot of historic context,” Mertens says, “and connects a lot of dots to the issues we’re seeing play out in women’s sports — the inequalities.
” Here are eight ways the world has misjudged women runners and how they’ve fought to make the sport their own. 1. Running is a "menace" to women’s health and fertility The belief that a woman’s uterus might fall out if she pushed herself too hard physically was not entirely frin.
