Throughout the 2024 Olympics, women have been bringing the heat.
This past month, women Olympians have accomplished numerous great feats. Then again, they’ve had more of a chance to do so than ever before, as the Olympics is also, for the first time in history, not dominated by men. According to the International Olympic Committee, an estimated 5,000 women athletes have been competing in the Olympics this year – achieving near parity for the first time. This is a stark difference from 1900, when only 22 women out of 997 athletes competed.
To celebrate milestones big and small, we’ve compiled a list of several standout moments from the Paris Games, where women athletes continue to show how incredible they truly are.
Gymnasts Simone Biles, Rebeca Andrade and Jordan Chiles making Olympic history as the first athletes to comprise an all-Black gymnastics winners’ podium. (Credit: Rebeca Andrade, Facebook)
Black Girl Magic
Gymnasts Simone Biles, Rebeca Andrade and Jordan Chiles made Olympic history Monday as the first athletes to comprise an all-Black gymnastics winners’ podium. Andrade, 25 of Brazil, won gold in the artistic gymnastics final, while Team USA’s Biles, 27, won silver and Chiles, 23, won bronze. During the medal ceremony, Biles and Chiles honored Andrade by bowing as she proudly beamed in the middle — a true reflection of sisterhood. Andrade, who is known as “Rebeyonce” by her fans, called the moment a testament to “Black power” – while still recognizing the difficulties Black gymnasts can experience due to their skin color, People quoted her saying. But, adds Andrade, the trio has proven that anything is possible, and that “you can do it.”
Julien Alfred representing St. Lucia at the 2024 Olympics. (Credit: Julien Alfred, Facebook)
Sprinter Julien Alfred Wins
Thanks to Alfred, St. Lucia has won its first Olympic gold medal. In the pouring rain, Alfred sprinted to the finish line of the women’s 100-meter race, beating Team USA star Sha’Carri Richardson by less than a second. Alfred, 23, recalled to the Associated Press her experiences running barefoot as a child – one of the first signs of her passion and athletic ability, she says. But after losing her father at age 12, Alfred walked away from the sport for a time, before a coach’s encouragement brought her back. Years later, she’s using her win to honor her country, as well as her late father. “He believed I could be an Olympian. That I can be here,” Alfred told the AP. “He’d be so boastful of his daughter.”
Lilly King en route to winning women's 200 breaststroke. (Credit: JD Lasica, Wikimedia Commons)
U.S. Women’s Relay Team Breaks World Record
Swimmers Lilly King, Regan Smith, Gretchen Walsh and Torri Huske were unstoppable. Together, they won gold during the 4×100 meter medley relay on Sunday, and broke the world record by almost one second in the process. For Huske, losing wasn’t an option. “I didn’t want to let Team USA down,” she told NBC. “[My team] just got me so fired up.” According to Team USA, the event marks the fifth gold win for U.S. women swimmers, the sixth if one is counting the mixed-gender relay — which is even more impressive considering Team USA Swimming has won eight medals in all so far.
Rio de Janeiro – Nadadora norte-americana Katie Ledecky bate recorde mundial e leva medalha de ouro nos 400m livre nos Jogos Olímpicos Rio 2016, no Estádio Aquático. (Fernando Frazão/Agência Brasil)
Swimmer Katie Ledecky Becomes America’s Most Decorated Olympian
At age 15, Ledecky won her first Olympic gold medal in the 800 freestyle. Now 29, she’s just won her ninth gold medal in the same event, making history as the USA’s most decorated Olympic champion in the process. According to Team USA, only three other Olympians have won nine gold medals: American swimmer Mark Spitz, long distance runner Paavo Nurmi and U.S. track star Carl Lewis — all of them, men. And while Ledecky showed impressive athleticism as a teen, news reports at the time were focused on fellow Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps. This time though, Ledecky is in the spotlight, and will likely remain there if she makes her way to the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. “It’s not easy,” Ledecky says. “But … I’ll take it year by year, and give it everything I’ve got for as long as I have left in me.”
Nada Hafez competing in the 2024 Olympics, (Credit: @nada_hafez, Instagram)
Nada Hafez Competes in Fencing Competition while Seven Months Pregnant
Many can attest to this: During pregnancy, it feels nearly impossible to do anything — especially in the third trimester. But Hafez, 27, showed the world that not even a pregnant belly can stop a determined woman. The Egyptian fencer was one of 16 women to compete in the Olympic finals, and though she lost, she posted on Instagram that she was “lucky” to compete – because being responsible for the life of a child while competing in an international sporting event is, she notes, not easy. Hafez revealed that she and her unborn child “had our fair share of challenges,” to CBS – specifically, the “fight to keep the balance of life & sports” –but added that she was able to push through it with the help of her family. And to her, it was all worth it: “Three times *Olympian* but this time carrying a little Olympian one,” Hafez said in a post about her experience.
Kristen Faulkner biking in Flanders, Belgium. (Credit: Hoebele, Wikimedia Commons)
Kristen Faulkner is the First Woman Road Racer to Win in 40 years
Faulkner started competing in the Olympics just seven years ago, but she’s already a history-making champion. During a road race on Sunday, Faulkner, 31, became the first American woman to win a medal in the event since 1984, beating fellow competitors Marianne Vos of the Netherlands and Lotte Kopecky by nearly a minute. The Alaskan native almost didn’t join the race, as she wanted to focus on her role in the team pursuit, but then decided to stay in – it turned out to be a good call. Faulkner says she applied some valuable advice she learned when she was working as a venture capitalist: “How to take calculated risks, and how to assess risk,” she told USA Today. “[If] there’s a high risk but the reward is high, then it might be worth it. And … I take that mindset with me throughout the race.”
Fariba and Yulduz Hashimi at the 2024 Olympics in Paris. (Credit: Team Afghanistan, Facebook)
Afghan Women Athletes Stand Up for Fellow Women
Several Afghan Olympians are using their spotlight to speak up for women’s rights. When sisters Fariba and Yulduz Hashimi made history Sunday as the first Afghan cyclists to compete in the Olympics’ women’s road race, they did so in defiance of the Taliban, the controlling militant movement that seeks to limit women’s rights, and who refuses to recognize women in sports. After the Taliban retook power in Afghanistan in 2021, Kabul — the capital city the sisters call home — placed restrictions on women in schools and workplaces. The sisters are now speaking out about what they can, and should be able to do. “I will try to do it for my people, to show that cycling is something nice that everyone can do, not just the men but women as well,” Fariba Hashimi told public news network France 24. And Afghanistan’s sole woman sprinter, Kimia Yousofi, also advocated for women’s rights while at the Games, by writing the words “Education. Sport. Our Rights,” on the back of her race bib.