Stats That Matter: Women In The Olympics
Excitement is brewing with the start of the 2022 Winter Olympics fast approaching.
This year, women may set a record for most women from any nation to compete at a single Winter Games. It’s a record the United States has broken at the previous 10 Winter Olympics, according to Olympedia.org. Of the 223 American athletes competing, 108 are women.
The U.S. roster includes two women — Lindsey Jacobellis (snowboarding) and Katie Uhlaender (skeleton) — who will compete in their fifth Olympics and will tie the record for most ever Olympic games. Five other women — Hilary Knight (hockey), Ashley Caldwell (freestyle skiing, aerials), Faye Gulini (snowboard cross), and Elana Meyers Taylor and Kaillie Humphries (bobsled) — will make their fourth Olympic appearance.
The youngest member of this year’s Olympic team is figure skater Alysa Liu who will be 16 years and six months old in Beijing. The oldest woman competing for Team USA is Katie Uhlaender who will be competing in the Skeleton event. At age 37, Uhlaender is the oldest member of the U.S. team, but not the oldest athlete in the Olympics. Additionally, U.S. aerialist Winter Vinecki will become the first Winter Olympian from any nation to be named “Winter” when she makes her debut in Beijing, according to Olympedia.org.
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Team USA’s roster includes fewer women than men, which contrasts the most recent Summer Games. The 2021 Tokyo Olympics marked the third straight Summer Olympics in which women outnumbered men on the U.S. Olympic team. Over 45 percent of athletes at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics will be women, a record for the Winter Olympic Games. Four years ago at the last Winter Games, women comprised 41 percent of all international competitors.
While the gender gap is closing, men still have more events on the Olympic Winter Games program at 51, compared to only 46 for women. Part of the reason for this is the Nordic combined, the only Olympic sport (summer or winter) that does not include women. Women also have fewer quota spots in bobsled, luge, ski jumping, and ice hockey.
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