Jessica Ennis competing in London 2012. Photo credit: BRF http://flic.kr/p/cKxThY
The background
Team GB’s outstanding performance at London 2012 has been well documented. British athletes have already amassed a stunning 37 medals, including 16 shiny golds. The powerful overall performance has the host well on track to meet and beat its ambitious pre-event targets.
A sizeable 36 percent of Team GB’s medal haul have been hauled in by female athletes. Most notably, well-loved Jessica Ennis won gold in the grueling seven event, two-day heptathlon. The pressure was really on Ennis after she was ear-marked as the face of Games but she was able to deliver on the frenzied hype. Other big names in British women’s sport such as cyclist Victoria Pendleton and rower Katherine Grainger have stepped up when it most counted.
“In the run-up to the Games, I feared that the Olympics would be a showcase for sex kittens,” said Cristina Odone of The Telegraph. “All the talk was of beach volleyball, all the photos were of long, lean bodies with only a fig leaf of cover. Thank goodness the girls have pulled it off – and claimed the Games as their own.”
The women’s games
Cristina Odone of The Telegraph argued that “women have stolen the show” at London 2012, and argued that the “girly” pink and violet hues of London 2012 are entirely appropriate: “From the moment 50 suffragettes, in floor-skimming skirts and wide-brimmed hats, marched into view at the opening ceremony, women have stolen the show.” Odone praised the performances of Ennis, Lizzie Armitstead, Victoria Pendleton, Katherine Grainger, Helen Glover, Dani King, Laura Trott, Gemma Gibbons and Joanna Rowsell, but reminded that, “the British are not alone in giving the Olympics a feminine flavor.” She reminded that swimmer Missy Franklin won four gold medals, set a world record and “powered the entire US Olympic team with her can-do attitude, ” that Ethiopian runner Tirunesh Dibaba made history while claiming her third gold medal and Chinese swimmer Ye Shiwen “electrified” the Aquatics Centre as she broke the world record in the 400m individual medley: “the allegations of doping simply proved how extraordinary her feat was.”
Beyond the arenas, Odone said that, “women are popping up everywhere. On the telly, Clare Balding has been flawless … On the ground, ordinary women help visitors with directions, first aid, and ticket inspection. Men have signed up to be Games Makers too, but I’ve mostly spotted women, in their purple uniforms, pointing visitors towards the Greatest Show on Earth.”
Women’s boxing debuts at London 2012
Zoe Williams of The Guardian went to the debut of women’s boxing at the Olympics and found “some kind of magnet working on my feminism compass and I don’t know which way is north.” She argued that “patriarchy isn’t going to smash itself, and every woman who stepped into the ring on Sunday has worked harder against it than most,” but found the actual sight of women boxing a bit of a tough watch. Williams’ initial reaction to the girls in action was “go team female” yet she discovered that “the sight of a woman being beaten up, even by another woman” made her “feel nauseous. It seems like a little bit of a shame to have to watch something so horrible in the name of the sisterhood. But it’s horrible watching men beat each other up, also.” Williams concluded that, “I would still prefer it if people didn’t hit one another … But within the rules of sport and the natural universe, what a result.”
Our Ennis’ grace under pressure
“Wherever you’re from, no matter what you do, you can relate to Jess,” insisted Denise Lewis at The Telegraph. “For me, she comes over almost as though she’s part of your family; she could be your daughter, your sister, your best friend.” Lewis insisted that Ennis, who has now won the European, world and Olympic titles, “is right up there with the very best” ever British athletes. “The way she handled the expectation and pressure to deliver in these Games was perhaps the greatest demonstration of grace under pressure I’ve seen,” praised Lewis.
“She’s MaJESStic! Now Ennis is a great Brit just like me,” declared Daley Thomspon in The Daily Mail.
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