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ASIA, CECIL, EUROPE, FRANCE, GENDER EQUALITY, INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE, IOC, JAPAN, NOAH WILLIAMS, OLYMPIC GAMES, OLYMPIC MOVEMENT, OLYMPIC SOLIDARITY, OLYMPICS, PARIS, PARIS 2024 OLYMPICS, RUGBY SEVENS, SIMONE BILES, SOLIDARITY, TOKYO, UNIVERSITY OF HERTFORDSHIRE, USA, WISH
Clara Montgomery
Empowering Women Coaches: Highlights from the Paris 2024 Olympic Games
The article discusses the empowerment of women in coaching through the WISH program at the Olympic Games Paris 2024. Notable achievements of female coaches include Emilie Bydwell’s coaching of the USA rugby sevens team to a bronze medal and Cecile Landi’s leadership of Simone Biles in gymnastics. Despite advancements, gender imbalance persists in coaching roles. WISH aims to enhance female representation among elite coaches, with numerous participants already making significant impacts at Paris 2024.
The Olympic Games Paris 2024 prominently feature ten remarkable women coaches who have broken barriers through the Women in Sport High-Performance Pathway (WISH), an initiative by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) aimed at enhancing female representation in elite coaching. Their achievements serve as inspiration for numerous young women aspiring to enter coaching roles.
At Paris 2024, female coaches have registered significant accomplishments. Notably, Emilie Bydwell became the first female coach of any rugby sevens team at the Olympic Games, leading the USA women’s team to their inaugural bronze medal in the sport. Additionally, gymnastics coach Cecile Landi guided Simone Biles to three gold medals, while other female coaches successfully mentored male athletes, attaining medals in events such as synchronized diving and swimming.
Despite the historic aspect of Paris 2024 achieving gender parity in athlete representation, coaching roles remain disproportionately male-dominated. At Tokyo 2020, only 13% of coaches were women. The WISH program, benefitting from Olympic Solidarity funds, is instrumental in addressing this disparity within the Olympic Movement and fostering gender equality across sports.
Since its inception in 2022, WISH has mentored 123 female coaches from 22 sports across 60 countries by offering leadership training and networking opportunities. The program features a residency at the University of Hertfordshire, and ten of these coaches are present in various roles at Paris 2024, attributing their readiness and confidence to WISH’s robust support.
Noelle Morrissey, an Irish athletics coach and member of the WISH cohort, feels empowered by her training. She conveys, “After the first day in WISH with the other women, it was no longer ‘I can’t.’ Instead, it was: ‘How can I?’” This shift in mindset has bolstered her confidence and commitment to helping other women advance in coaching roles.
Naomi Folkard, a five-time Olympian turned performance coach, expresses gratitude towards the WISH program for her preparedness in her new coaching role. She comments, “After WISH I really felt ready,” emphasizing the importance of organizational and self-care skills in high-pressure environments such as the Olympic Games.
Prominent female coaches who have participated in WISH and are presently coaching at Paris include: Marwa Amri (Tunisia; wrestling), Tine Deckers (Belgium; triathlon), Naomi Folkard (Great Britain; archery), and Noelle Morrissey (Ireland; athletics), among others.
The WISH program, bolstered by $1 million from Olympic Solidarity, is tailored to empower over 100 women to coach at elite Olympic levels. Nominees are selected based on their ability and potential, participating in a comprehensive 21-month training program intended to advance their coaching careers.
The successes of female coaches at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games highlight the importance of initiatives like the Women in Sport High-Performance Pathway (WISH). By fostering confidence and providing essential training, WISH empowers women to excel in coaching roles and serves as a model for promoting gender equality in sports. As the landscape of elite coaching continues to shift, the contributions of these women signal progress towards a more balanced representation in the field.
Original Source: www.olympics.com
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