Olympic and world rowing champion Annamarie Phelps fears an excessive interest in progressing at elite levels in women’s sport could “trick” British girls into conforming to a status quo that still leaves much to be desired.
Phelps competed in the women’s eight at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, three years after winning the world gold medal in the lightweight quadruple.
Since retiring, the 56-year-old has built a long resume of leadership roles and has served as Vice-President of the British Olympic Association for the past six years and also chaired the European Olympic Committee’s Gender, Diversity and Inclusion committees. Since October 2021.
Last summer, she became co-chair of the International Working Group (IWG) on Women and Sport, as Britain entered its second year as host country for the Global Secretariat, which moves every four years.
“When I was growing up in the ’70s, the only women’s sport that existed was gymnastics, and that was once every four years at the Olympics,” Phelps told the Palestinian News Agency.
“So it’s great to see women’s football, women’s rugby, women’s cricket. I think we have to be careful not to celebrate top as the best and the end of it all. I think it’s very nice of course.
“At IWG, we look forward to the full spectrum of women’s sports, globally and top down, from the grassroots to the elite. And yes, we’re doing a great job in this country celebrating women’s sports and bringing it to TV, like the Women’s Super League.
“But if you look at the grassroots level, at the grassroots level, I still don’t think girls have enough opportunities to play soccer or just play any kind of sport. They tend to be scheduled at the worst times in the worst areas, and look at some of the coverage Sports are on TV, and more often than not the women are on the red button and the men are on prime time.
“Every little step helps, but we don’t want to mislead these young women who are so passionate about the sport about how great women’s sport is right now as there are still so many issues, especially in the media and the visibility of the sport in the print press. As far as anything, no It’s still terrible.
Last February, the UK ranked second in the international rankings for board representation at the FTSE 100 level, with nearly 40% of positions held by women. This figure reflects data released by Sport England and UK sport in 2019, which showed that women hold an average of 40% of board positions at bodies funded by the two organisations.
That number has dropped significantly when it comes to football, with a 2021 study by fair game feminists finding that women make up 11.1% of board members in the Premier League.
Phelps credits the late D’Ellis, his “inspirational” predecessor as head of British rowing, for “tapping her on the shoulder and pushing” her to take over the former Olympian.
But Phelps cautioned that simply sitting at the table is not enough.
Being there is one thing, trying to change people’s opinions is another.
Annamarie Phelps
“It’s about giving them space to listen,” she added. “It’s about helping them really represent what they’re saying. Being there is one thing, and it’s another to really try to change people’s opinions, and that’s a very slow process.”
“It changes the conversation, opens things up, and helps the guys around the table wonder why this didn’t happen sooner. We’re likely to have a conversation on a different level and ask different questions, dig into some of the details and not be afraid to ask the basic kind of dumb questions everyone else is thinking.
“Women will say, ‘Look, can we put this on the table and talk about it?'” “
“It’s been an amazing journey. We have a long way to go, but we’re getting there.”
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