It's International Women's Day!

The world comes together for International Women's Day (IWD) on March 8 to celebrate women's achievements and reinforce a commitment to women's equality. This year the main theme is “Break The Bias”, in which we challenge the biases placed on women.

Women achieve phenomenal things and here are a few of our favourite athletes.

Simone Biles

With seven Olympic medals, Simone Biles is regarded as one of the greatest gymnasts of all time.

She is the most successful American gymnast of all time and has a combined total of 32 Olympic and World Championship medals. She is currently tied with Larisa Latynina as the most decorated gymnast of all time.

In the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Simone pulled out of the women’s gymnastics team final after a vault event, saying, "We're not just athletes. We're people at the end of the day and sometimes you just have to step back.”

 

Naomi Osaka

Naomi Osaka is a Japanese professional tennis player who has been ranked No.1 by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA). She has won the Grand Slam Singles Championship four times.

In May 2021, Naomi Osaka withdrew from the French Open to protect her mental health. This put extra pressure on her when she was the face of the Tokyo Olympics later in the year.

Naomi said, “Everyone either suffers from issues related to their mental health or knows someone who does… It’s OK to not be OK.”

 

Nicola Adams

 

Nicola Adams was born in Leeds in 1982. As a child, she suffered from eczema, asthma and several food allergies. Doctors told Nicola’s mum to limit the amount of running around Nicola did in case it made her asthma worse. She would later say it had been ‘impossible’ to stop her from being active.

In 2009, it was announced that women’s boxing would be an event at the London 2012 Olympics. Nicola defeated Ren Cancan from China and became the Olympic champion at the Games. Then, at the 2016 Rio Olympics, she defeated Sarah Ourahmoune from France and achieved her dream. She had become a double Olympic champion!

Did you know?

Despite her successes, Nicola still couldn’t earn much money from boxing. She had several jobs, including working as an ‘extra’ (non-speaking part) on television shows, such as Emmerdale and Coronation Street.

 

Alex Scott MBE

 

Scott was born in 1984 in London. She is an English sports presenter, pundit, and former professional footballer who mostly played as a right-back for Arsenal. She made 140 appearances for the England national team and represented Great Britain at the 2012 Summer Olympics. After this, she became the first female football pundit at a World Cup for the BBC.

 

Jessica Ennis-Hill

In 2008, Jessica was chosen to represent Team GB at the Olympic Games in Beijing. However, just three months before the Olympics were due to begin, Jessica broke her right foot. As a result, she had to miss the Olympic Games. Determined to make up for her disappointment, Jessica prepared for many years for the London 2012 Olympics. At the end of the first day of competition, Jessica had scored her highest ever first-day total.

Then, on day two, she went on to win the 800 metres race, in front of thousands of cheering fans, to claim her gold medal. The night she won later became known as ‘Super Saturday’. After her big win, she was quoted as saying,

“I told myself at the start that I’m only going to have one moment to do this in front of a crowd in London and I just wanted to give them a good show.” 

 

 

Click here to read a few more interesting stories about women in sport. Alternatively, if you fancy joining some of our female only sport and fitness sessions, why don't you attend our Fabulass sessions.