female athletes

The sports world is still built for men. This elite runner wants to change that

1:28pm January 10, 2023

by Terry Gross

Champion distance runner Lauren Fleshman says too many coaches assume — falsely — that what works for male athletes also benefits female athletes. Her memoir is Good for a Girl.

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U.S. center Lusia Harris finishes a basket in a game against Bulgaria during the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal.

Sports

Remembering legend Lusia Harris, the only woman to be officially drafted by the NBA

3:48pm January 19, 2022

by Rachel Treisman

Harris scored the first points in Olympic women's basketball history and was the first Black woman inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame, among other accolades. She turned the NBA down in 1977.

Allyson Felix and Quanera Hayes celebrate with their children after placing second and first respectively in the women's 400-meter final at U.S. Olympic Track & Field Team Trials in June in Eugene, Ore.

Both U.S. Women Competing In The Olympic 400-Meter Final Are Moms

11:31am August 06, 2021

by Merrit Kennedy

Allyson Felix and Quanera Hayes have spoken out about the joys of motherhood and the obstacles that female athletes face that men don't.

Annie Kunz in the women's heptathlon 100-meter hurdles during the Olympic trials in Eugene, Ore., in June. Building her training regimen around recent findings from sex-specific sports medicine research has made a difference in her performance, says Kunz,

Sports Science Is Changing How Female Olympians Train. It Could Help You, Too

5:28pm August 03, 2021

by Maggie Mertens

U.S. Olympic heptathlete Annie Kunz says tracking her monthly cycles and learning she needs to eat more and get more naps when she's fatigued has already improved her athletic performance.

Field hockey star Sarita Bhise (right) with her mother (far left) and maternal aunt, cleaning onions they've harvested on the family farm.

Why A Field Hockey Champ In India Is Now Harvesting Onions And Herding Goats

9:29am December 31, 2020

by Pooja Bhula

Young female athletes benefited from an increase in government support in recent years. The pandemic has put an end to that.

Caster Semenya has won a temporary block against regulations that would require her to lower her testosterone levels artificially before being allowed to compete in some races.

Caster Semenya Hopes to 'Run Free' Again After Swiss Supreme Court Offers A Reprieve

4:28pm June 03, 2019

by Bill Chappell

"I hope that following my appeal I will once again be able to run free," the Olympic champion athlete said Monday.

Jaslynn Gallegos settles into her wrestling stance.

Sports

Instead Of Wrestling A Girl, High Schooler Chooses To Forfeit State Wrestling Match

3:53pm March 10, 2019

Brendan Johnston refused to compete against Jaslynn Gallegos because of her gender. Gallegos went on to place fifth but is frustrated to be treated differently as an athlete because she's a girl.

Ashley Caldwell performs an aerial before the World Cup last February. When she watched aerials for the first time at age 12, she remembers thinking: "Why are these people so crazy?"

Aerials Skier Ashley Caldwell's 'Bold Move': A Quadruple-Twisting Triple Flip

11:24pm February 13, 2018

by Melissa Block

"Why are these people so crazy?" Caldwell wondered when she first watched aerials skiing at age 12. Now she's the women's world champion, spinning and somersaulting some 60 feet high in the air.

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Emily Nash, shown on Aug. 8 after winning the Massachusetts Golf Association's WGAM Junior Amateur Championship. This month, in an unrelated high school tournament, Nash was denied a trophy despite her winning score.

Winner Of High School Golf Tournament Denied Trophy, Because She's A Girl

4:37pm October 26, 2017

by Camila Domonoske

Emily Nash was allowed to compete in a Massachusetts boys golf tournament, as part of her team. But she couldn't win individual prizes — despite a four-stroke victory over the next-best player.

Courts

Lawsuit Accuses Guilford College Of Discrimination In Female Athletic Programs

5:24pm October 19, 2017

by Keri Brown

Guilford College is facing a federal discrimination lawsuit. Some students and coaches at the Greensboro school allege unequal treatment for female athletes.