Despite starting in 1896, the Summer Olympic Games only saw the debut of women in the 1900 Summer Olympics hosted in Paris, where only 22 out of 997 athletes were female. More than a century later, participation has grown exponentially, with the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics achieving the most gender balanced games ever with women accounting for 47 percent of the athletes.
However, the Olympics are not the only place where policies have been implemented to eliminate discrimination within athletics. In 1972, the passing of Title IX in the Education Amendments of 1972 prohibited sex-based discrimination in federally funded education programs and activities within the United States; consequently, the world saw a surge in the participation of young female athletes. Today, rising stars like WNBA All-Star Caitlin Clark and gymnast Suni Lee have drawn attention to a spotlight on women’s sports and female professional athletes. Their impact is visible, especially at the high school level, with increased funding, participation, and visibility creating more opportunities for teenage girls to compete and lead within their own school communities.
Alongside this rise in participation, women’s sports have gained larger audiences. A recent analysis by McKinsey & Company shows that revenue from women’s sports has grown four-and-a-half times faster than that of any men’s sports from 2022-2024, contributing to the unprecedented growth professional women’s leagues have experienced, driven in part by the popularity of star female athletes. Professional basketball players, such as Paige Bueckers, have drawn millions of viewers, contributing to recordbreaking attendance in the WNBA. As a result, many of these aforementioned star athletes are also receiving more sponsorship opportunities as brand investment in women’s sports continues to grow, with over 1,000 companies sponsoring women’s leagues in 2024 — a 73 percent increase from the previous year. At the same time, media coverage is expanding, tripling from about five percent of sports coverage in 2019 to around 20 percent in 2025. Furthermore, with this increased visibility, female athletes are offered a platform to support each other.
“I love seeing that there are real prospects that just didn’t exist for me and my peers when I was in high school. It feels really good to be able to encourage some of our most talented female athletes, not just with empty words, but with the success of these franchises,” said assistant volleyball Coach Katie Dineen.
Even though laws like Title IX supposedly eliminate bias, sporting events remain imbalanced as women’s events sell less tickets and, despite increasing ticket sales, do not generate as much revenue. This disparity causes one of the most debated issues in sports: the pay gap between male and female professional athletes. On average, male athletes are consistently earning significantly more than female athletes, with an extreme case being the average NBA salary of $11.8 million compared to the average WNBA salary of around $120,000.
“I feel like on the baseline, if you can say that ‘Oh, we have the same amount of revenue, the same amount of views,’ then that should mean equal pay. I’d say that if you don’t have the same level of viewership and revenue, then it doesn’t make sense to be paid the same salary as those who have higher amounts,” said Lilly Ludewig ’26.
However, female athletes demonstrate commitment to their sport by training daily and paying the same costs for equipment, coaches, and transportation as male athletes.
“They should obviously receive the same salary for putting in the same amount of work, if not more,” said Nishika Singh ’27. “The [fewer] viewers is just because people do not appreciate women and have a very stigmatized view that sports equals masculinity.”
Ultimately, top female athletes are continuing to push to even out the pay imbalance, with American soccer player Megan Rapinoe leading the way for others by winning a lawsuit against the U.S. Soccer Federation in 2022 to achieve an equalized split in salary and prize money between the women’s and men’s national soccer teams.
As women’s sports continue to grow in popularity, gender inclusivity in sports has greatly improved since women first appeared in public sports over 100 years ago, with growing organizations and foundations dedicated to advocating for and supporting female athletes. This push for increasing equity and representation will continue to progress alongside the appearance of new generations of young athletes.