The Paris Olympic Games are just around the corner, and we're finally gearing up to see some exciting new disciplines (who's looking forward to breakdancing? I am!) But there's a question that's been haunting me: will female athletes receive the same level of recognition and importance as their male counterparts and equal media coverage as well?
These questions stem from a personal observation: often, we know the names of male athletes even if we don't follow their sports closely. Unfortunately, the same isn't always true for female athletes.
For instance, how many of us know that Tadej Pogačar recently won the Tour de France for the third time, even if we don't follow cycling? Many of us are certainly aware of his name. But how many people know who won the Giro d'Italia Women 2024, which ran from July 7th to 14th? It's likely that few are aware that Elisa Longo Borghini clinched the title for the first time, finishing ahead of Belgian Lotte Kopecky and Australian Neve Bradbury.
Although the Giro d'Italia Women has been held, under various names, since 1988, it still doesn't receive the same attention as the men's Giro. The latter, along with the Tour de France and the Vuelta a España, is one of the three major European professional cycling stage races. Held between May and June, this multi-stage race primarily takes place across Italy but sometimes starts or passes through other countries. It's a grand sports event that paints the streets and roads in pink, honoring the maglia rosa, the pink jersey awarded to the race leader.
In the areas where the cyclists pass, local authorities decorate the streets with pink flags and balloons, school children get a day off so that their parents can avoid major traffic disruptions, and locals set up impromptu installations and banners encouraging their heroes along the route to celebrate the passage of the carovana rosa (pink caravan).
The Giro d'Italia Women is instead usually shorter compared to the men's version and typically takes place in July, alongside the men's Tour de France. Usually it also receives minimal media coverage.
The final stage of the women's Giro on July 14, 2024, stretched from Pescara to L'Aquila. The day before, Neve Bradbury won the seventh stage, a challenging 120 km route from Lanciano to Blockhaus, a mountain peak in the Maiella massif.
This stage, which reached the highest point of the race at over 3,700 meters of elevation, finished at the Cima Alfonsina Strada (known as Cima Coppi in the men's Giro), named in honor of the pioneering female cyclist who competed in men's races like the Giro di Lombardia and the Giro d'Italia.
The Pescara-L'Aquila stage also featured Via del Circuito, which was once the route for the Pescara Grand Prix, a notable car race recognized for being one of the longest and most challenging circuits in motor racing history (the last Pescara Grand Prix, held in 1961, was among the final major car races conducted on city streets, similar to the Monaco Grand Prix).
Three days before the Giro d'Italia Women passed through this street, termporary signs warned the drivers that this was going to be a "no parking" area in the morning of 14th July as there was a "cycling race" passing by. There was no mention of the Giro d'Italia Women and the event was treated as if it were an amateur competition causing a temporary yet minor disruption in the area.
The streets were devoid of pink ribbons or flags; instead, an anonymous black arrow on a pink background marked the route for the cyclists, who faced sweltering temperatures ranging between 40°C and 46°C (the men's Giro usually occurs in May when temperatures are slightly cooler).
The lack of celebrations was a missed opportunity as this year marks the 100th anniversary of Alfonsina Strada's participation in the men's Giro d'Italia, a milestone that would have been nearly forgotten if not for the dedication of a peak in her honor.
Alfonsa Rosa Maria Morini, known by her married name Alfonsina Strada, was born in 1891 into a modest family. She learned to cycle when her father bought an old bicycle from the village doctor. Cycling quickly became Alfonsina's passion, though it was met with societal disapproval. Cycling was indeed deemed inappropriate for women, and those who pursued it were often seen as circus attractions or accused of immorality for enjoying the vibrations of their saddles.
Even other women disapproved of her tomboyish behavior, and Alfonsina earned the nickname "the devil in a dress" (though for professional competitions, she wore shorts and a black jersey). She often participated in races in secret, telling her mother she was going to Sunday Mass.
Alfonsina defied the norms and defeated male competitors, challenging a system that only saw women as mothers and housewives. When she married, her husband Luigi Strada, a mechanic who became her first supporter and manager, supported her passion. As a wedding gift, he gave her a racing bicycle and trained her on the streets of Milan.
In 1909, Alfonsina was invited to compete in the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg in Russia and took part in the Giro di Lombardia in 1917 and 1918. By then, she had already broken the women’s speed record previously set by Louise Roger six years earlier.
In 1924, Alfonsina Strada participated in the Giro d'Italia (3,613 km) as a non-competitive entrant, supported by Emilio Colombo, the editor of La Gazzetta dello Sport, the daily sponsoring the race. Colombo saw her more as a media opportunity than a serious competitor. Alfonsina finished outside the time limit in the Perugia stage, after a particularly grueling segment in Abruzzo, and eventually she was denied further participation in the Giro. However, she remained a significant figure in various other races until 1938 when she set the women's hour record (35.28 km) in Longchamp.
I hear your, I know what you're saying, the Olympic Games are something else. They are indeed a major event, and one might hope for less gender bias in coverage. But let's not forget the past criticisms faced by female athletes - from skateboarding girls who were considered as inexperienced to Simone Biles being criticized for prioritizing her mental and physical health over competition at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020. At the Paris Olympic Games there will be many standout athletes to watch, including American Sha'Carri Richardson, the fastest woman in the world (currently celebrated on Vogue US's digital cover), and British weightlifter Emily Campbell, one of the strongest women in the world.
While enjoying their performances, it's important to remember the ongoing disparities between male and female athletes. Many women in elite sports still need to hold ordinary jobs to support themselves (Emily Campbell self-funded her career by working as a receptionist), unlike their male counterparts who can often dedicate themselves fully to their sport.
Elite women athletes (from all sorts of sports, from Australia rugby to soccer, tennis, golf, track and field and many more) face indeed significant disparities compared to the multimillion-dollar men's sports. Despite her achievements, Alfonsina Strada was never truly recognized as a professional athlete in her time. Today, while these women are acknowledged as real athletes, they often still don't receive the same level of support and recognition as men.
Any further examples? The disparity between the men's and women's Giro d'Italia is even clearer when we look at numbers. In 2024, the men's Giro covered 3,317.5 km across 21 stages, while the women's Giro spanned 876.7 km over 8 stages, with a route from Brescia to L'Aquila that finished in central Italy without reaching the south. This difference in distance highlights the reduced scale of the women's event compared to the men's.
Historically, Alfonsina Strada competed in a much more demanding Giro, riding a single-speed bike over unpaved roads in post-war Italy (and once she also had to repair her broken handlebars with a broom handle).
Prize money further underscores the inequality. In 2024, the Giro d'Italia men's race awarded the overall winner 265,888 euros, distributed among all team members. At each stage of the competition, the winner received 11,000 euros, with a total stage prize pool of 578,340 euros (the awards for the first ten winners are not included in this amount).
In contrast, the Giro d'Italia Women's prize structure has been significantly lower. For instance, in 2021, the overall winner received 8,000 euros. Complaints led to increased prizes, and in 2023, the total prize pool was approximately 250,000 euros, with the overall winner receiving around 25,000 euros. Elisa Longo Borghini, the 2024 winner, earned 250,000 euros for her team, which, although an improvement, remains less than the prize money awarded in the men's Giro (I couldn't find on the Internet any other information about the other prizes at Giro Women).
While women's sports still struggle with limited sponsorship and exposure, it is also frustrating to see how male journalists cover women's sports, sometimes making inappropriate remarks about the athletes, while there are very few women reporting on men's sports. The Giro d’Italia Women’s coverage has been particularly disappointing, and improvements are needed.
Improvements are needed also for what regards sponsors. Could Mattel maybe play a role as well? Why Mattel? Well, Barbie has evolved significantly, with the brand recently introducing inclusive dolls such as a blind Barbie and a Black Barbie with Down's syndrome (after releasing in 2023 a white Barbie with Down's syndrome). Besides, in 2019, Kristina Vogel, the track cyclist paralyzed in a crash during a training ride, got her own Barbie doll as part of Mattel's Shero program. The Shero series, dedicated to role models and women breaking boundaries also includes other athletes, namely British boxer Nicola Adams, and American fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad (in 2019 rapper Rapsody dedicated to the Olympic medalist, who made history as the first Muslim-American woman to wear a hijab during the competition, her track "Ibtihaj"), so it may be expanded to feature further athletes and may tie in with a major event like the Giro d'Italia Women, something that would elevate its profile and attract more attention.
Food for thought for them. For what regards us, well, let's stay vigilant on the coverage of women's sports as we follow the Olympic Games, maybe moving also from the plate dedicated to Alfonsina Strada on the Blockhaus, reading "Your courage still inspires us". Life is indeed about having the courage to forge your own path and represent yourself fearlessly, like Alfonsina did, regardless of what others think.
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