Female Athletes

For many, it's a struggle to balance spirituality with the practical matter of living a full life. For women, this is sometimes made especially difficult. Thus you have to admire Ruqaya Al Ghasara and what she has been able to achieve without giving up what I'm sure she cherishes most—her faith. (See also this link.)

By the way Not incidentally, Al Ghasara made it all the way to the 200m semifinals.

Why have Chinese weightlifters like Cao Lei been so dominant this Olympics? Well, one possible explanation has emerged. Perhaps most interesting, it spotlights an advantage that women have over men.

That was comedian Rodney Dangerfield's catchphrase. I imagine it's also how female athletes must feel sometimes. Consider, for instance, what has been said recently about Dara Torres:

Rather than praise Dara as a role model, Deborah Kotz insists that she's merely someone who makes other women feel bad about themselves. Her message to women, in a nutshell: aspire to nothing extraordinary. (Alas, the age of the athletic heroine is past, short-lived though it was.)

I mentioned earlier that the effort to eliminate performance-enhancing drugs from sports is starting to look like a witch-hunt. Read Amanda Schaffer's screed and see what you think. Her message: if you're too good, we'll cut you down to size.

And fresh from the grade-school playground, imbecilic remarks such as this one invariably spring up whenever a female athlete is the topic of conversation. (Yep, the ol' "Yuck! women shouldn't have muscles" mentality is still alive and kicking, at least in some quarters.)

Finally, if that wasn't enough, some female athletes—that is, those who, once more, are deemed too good; heads up, Dara—will be tested for "maleness" in a "gender determination lab" (which to me sounds like something out of a Frankenstein movie) at the Olympics. It's hard to imagine how degrading this must be.

I sometimes wonder why they do it. Female athletes reap only small rewards compared to those given to male athletes, yet they suffer many times more the number of indignities. No matter, they persevere anyway. Question whatever else you want, if you must, but the female athlete's dedication is beyond doubt.

Jennifer Widerstrom (aka Phoenix), one of the new American Gladiators this season, is an outstanding all-round athlete. She was a track and field star at the University of Kansas, specializing in hammer and weight throwing (photo), and she has also competed in diving, rowing, gymnastics, and NPC figure. Jennifer looks like the explosive athlete that she is, with what is perhaps the best physique on the show. She introduces herself in this clip (use link if clip doesn't play on page):



The two-hour season finale of American Gladiators will air this Monday (August 4).

(Additional sources: Bodybuilding Weekly; University of Kansas Official Athletic Site.)