I’m an Olympic silver medal winner. It’s about time Olympics protected female athletes
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced it is moving closer to protecting the women’s category in the Olympics. That’s a long-overdue step in the right direction.
I’d be thrilled to see the IOC take the next step. But even more dearly, I’d love to hear the voices of the elite female athletes who are done compromising on fairness and safety finally say it out loud. It’s time to tell our side.
I spent 20 years of my life competing at the highest level of gymnastics. It was an incredible journey — one that shaped me in every possible way — but it also came with its fair share of challenges.
I qualified for the 2016 Olympic team, but I was passed over and moved to an alternate spot. I watched from the bench as my teammates won gold.
I walked away, not fully satisfied. At the University of Utah, I became a two-time national champion and 26-time All-American.
I went back to elite gymnastics at 22 years old to pursue my dream of competing at the games. I made it back on the national team in just a few months, and things were looking great with my training.
But then COVID-19 happened, delaying the Games. And I had to train for another year, which is like dog years, in gymnastics. The challenges didn’t stop there.
Before Tokyo, I got COVID-19, was hospitalized with pneumonia, and trained through a painful bone spur. Nothing felt like it was going my way.
My motto during that time became “never give up.” And that’s what carried me through the roller coaster of the Olympics — from having a flight booked back home to publicly retiring, to suddenly being called back as a replacement on vault … and walking away with a silver medal.
Since then, life has looked a little different. I’ve faced new challenges, found new purpose and discovered real joy in becoming a mom — and in rediscovering who I am beyond competition.
IOC SET TO BAN TRANSGENDER ATHLETES FROM OLYMPIC WOMEN’S EVENTS: REPORTS
I want to be a voice for elite female athletes — to share a message of strength, courage and hope for the next generation of girls and to speak up for their futures.
No one teaches you how to do this — to speak up, to tell the uncomfortable truth — but I’m learning. I’m grateful to use my platform for something that matters deeply: protecting women’s sports and being a positive role model for the next generation of girls.
This is a new chapter for me, and yes, it’s scary. I know how loud and cruel the mob can be. But I also know how important it is to speak up.
There are things I’ve always believed in but didn’t always say out loud. Now, I’m finding my voice — and I hope others will too.
The IOC’s recent announcement gives me hope that meaningful change is possible. Now, it’s on all of us — the silent majority of female athletes, Team USA, and those still training at the elite level — to speak up and demand that the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) enforce policies that protect fairness and safety in every women’s sport.
Olympic athletes know that if a sport allowed match-fixing or doping, the USOPC would never stand by and do nothing. The same standard must apply to safety and fairness in women’s competition.
In Olympic gymnastics, women do not compete on the rings. Why? Because men are stronger than women, and events are designed around physiological realities. It’s that simple.
In Olympic track and field, World Athletics recently reported that more than 50 males have won against women in the last two decades.
Female athletes will not forget that at the Paris Olympics, two boxers who tested as male — Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting — competed in and won gold medals in the women’s category. The IOC, NBC and Meta shamed the women who protested.
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I share these examples from three different Olympic sports because it’s clear this issue is widespread. Individual sports cannot solve it on their own.
There is only one currently competing woman who has stepped out to open the debate about clear and fair standards at the professional league level. That is Elizabeth Eddy, the Angel City FC soccer player. And when she did, she was publicly shamed by her teammates.
Athletes get hurt every day — but we should not accept insanity. When men compete in women’s categories, it’s unfair and unsafe, and everyone knows it.
So, we can’t leave Eddy, or any other athlete, hanging out to dry and left to fight it out on her own, or worse, let her give up.
