Girl Power On Display For Team USA At 2024 Paris Olympics
Jul 29, 2024, 2:35 PM
PARIS, FRANCE - JULY 25: Katie Ledecky of Team United States smiles as she looks on during a Swimming Training Session ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at Paris La Defense Arena on July 25, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
(Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
PARIS – The females of Team USA have taken France by storm and are off to a great start at the 2024 Summer Olympics. Through the first two days of medal events, nine of the United States’ 12 medals have been won by women.
It’s a fitting pattern for a city who was home to the first ever women’s Olympic events. When Paris first hosted the games in 1900, women were welcomed in just five sports: tennis, sailing, equestrian, croquet and golf. Now, more than a century later, the 2024 Paris Games are the first Olympics with equal sports for both men and women.
Gender parity has been a focus for the International Olympic Committee in recent years. At the Tokyo Games, countries were allowed to have two flagbearers for the first time – one male and one female. And while mixed gender events are not new to the Olympics, the IOC has added 12 of them to the program over the last two games. In Paris, three new mixed team events are in the line-up including mixed team skeet shooting, mixed dinghy sailing and the marathon race walk mixed relay.
Most Notable Female Performances So Far
Many big-name women are still to compete for Team USA in these games. Here’s a look at some of the top performances so far.
Divers Sarah Bacon and Kassidy Cook
Photo: Getty Images
The duo secured the first medals of the Paris Games for Team USA placing 2nd in the women’s 3m springboard synchronized diving event.
Swimmer Katie Ledecky
Photo: Getty Images
With a bronze in the 400 Free, one more medal (12) will put Ledecky in a tie with Jenny Thompson, Darah Torres and Natalie Coughlin for the most medals won by a U.S. women in Olympic history.
Fencers Lee Keifer and Lauren Scruggs
Photo: Getty Images
These two women took the competition to an all-American final with Keifer winning back-to-back gold medals and Scruggs securing silver and becoming the first Black fencer to win an Olympic medal in an individual event for the United States.
Haley Batten
Park City’s own Haley Batten battled a tough course and flat tire to race into second place in the women’s mountain bike event, the highest finish for an American mountain biker.
Women covering women
KSL is proud to also have gender parity when it comes to covering the Olympics. Half of our six-person team in Paris is made of up women.
On Monday, two of them teamed up together to cover more incredible women as the U.S. Women’s Rugby Team took on France in pool play.
Reporter Tamara Vaifanua and Photographer Meghan Thackrey have spent days walking around Paris talking to the people, seeing the sights and collecting stories to tell back home.
Watch KSL 5 TV tonight at 6 for Vaifanua’s conversation with the women’s rugby team.
