On April 19, 1967, Bibi took number 261 and placed himself on the starting line with the rest of the runners. Smiling, she couldn’t believe she was doing it. KV Switzer ran the Boston Marathon, which had been the furthest for women for 70 years. When one of the organizers saw her among the men, he tried to pull her off the track, but her lover and coach led her away. At that moment, Kathrine realized what she was doing was more important. “He will perfect the seed of reptiles or quadrupeds, if need be; because if I don’t finish it, no one will believe that women can do it,” he said. Five years later, women were officially allowed to compete in the Boston Marathon.
The appearance of women in the field of sports has been a roadblock, and it is still a problem. To say the least, the idea of seeing a woman lifting weights, kicking a ball or running a marathon has become normalized. But the idea of ”running like a girl” is still ingrained and there are still people who are surprised when they see women doing well in certain sports disciplines.
It was difficult for women to enter the sport and not only because of the way society was built up, but also because of the different obstacles that they faced. Based on this social paradigm, some women have wisely lived their lust for a certain smile and even hide it out of shame. Or suffer insults. They were reviled and criticized. But moreover they were forbidden to compete. As it happened in the Boston Marathon or in soccer, which was banned even in the countries of origin like England.
Some did not want to stand before and later in posterity and their defiance. The same thing happened with Kathrine. Now, the number of women who play sports is increasing, something that is reducing the gap in interest in sports between men and women. The report shows ‘Women and Sport’ in Repucom (Nielsen, 2016). “Currently, nearly 50% of women around the world are involved in sports,” the report says.
