Olympic canoes - no place for a woman?

Other sports have clung to the notion that women have no place in the ranks, that women 'can't do it' (whatever 'it' may be), and even that men will 'move out' if women enter the particular sporting arena. The struggle by women to enter soccer and boxing exemplifies this approach. Women did not have sufficient agility, it was said, so simply could not play soccer 'properly'. Or they – along with women 'attempting' boxing - would suffer dire and irreparable bodily damage. Women, the argument appeared to be, should be protected from themselves or ought to use their legs and feet for activities more 'suited' to the female form.

Samantha Rippington's critics also protest that there is 'insufficient depth' in women's canoeing, whether slalom or sprint:

'The disciplines have tiny numbers of female competitors and both would require an unbelievable rate of growth to get to a point where they could justifiably be included in the Olympics programme.'

Furthermore, the High Court action may jeopardise canoeing as an Olympic sport, for despite the 'thrills and spills' of slalom – generating pronounced media-coverage and a high-profile for the sport and competitors – 'does not attract remotely the number of countries taking part' in other sports, such as athletics. As sports are now facing increasing pressure to justify their continued status in Olympic competition, critics are concerned that the publicity generated round Samantha Rippington will lead to canoeing events being excluded altogether.

There is, of course, a contradiction in the contention that additional publicity for the sport and attention being directed to more competitors – were women included – rather than fewer, so as to add to the profile of the sport, would some how lead to the sports' being excluded from the Games. Those genuinely concerned to ensure that canoeing (along with kayaking) remains a part of the Olympic calendar – rather than seeking to keep women out of Olympic contention – would surely welcome Samantha Rippington and her cohort, seeing more canoeists added to the competition. Sadly, those in opposition seem only to see 'women-in-canoes' as a threat, writ large.

In response to the critics, Samantha Rippington says Olympic status is essential to raising interest in the sport – for women and men – and will assist in the expansion of numbers taking it up and excelling to the point of Olympic competition. And as WinnipegFree Press acknowledges, if the sport were already included in the Olympic programme 'numerous Canadian athletes would be winning medals in London'.

Samantha Rippington is not alone in her call for the Olympic Games to live up to its purported principle of universalism in recognising excellence in sporting ability, with 'universal' defined to include women as equal participants in competition. Australia's Women on Boards (WOB) has a tripartite approach to the problem. Calling for 'post Olympic renewal, WOB is 'keeping the pressure up' to increase the number of women in leadership roles in Australian sport by:

• Tracking the number of women on sports boards;
• Assisting federal government portfolios to develop their Board Target Gender Balance Plans to achieve a minimum of 40 per cent women (and men) on all boards and committees by 2015 – a year ahead of the Rio Olympics;
• Writing to Minister for Sport Kate Lundy to recommend a 'more direct approach to improving numbers' on national sporting organisations' boards, 'given there has been little progress in the period 2010-2012'.

Additionally, Ruth Medd, director of Women on Boards, is participating in the inaugural Asia Pacific World Sport and Women (APWSW) conference seeking 'practical solutions to increase women's involvement in the business of sport'. Prophetically, given the response to Samantha Rippington's claim, the conference is entitled 'Activating the Future of Sport – Money, Members, Media, Marketing & Men'.

As Samantha Rippington has said:

'Not being an Olympic sport means lower levels of funding, support and training opportunities than the men, which makes progression, both individually and in terms of the sport itself, very difficult.'

Ironically, given that legal action to redress the balance in canoeing has had to be launched for notice to be taken, the most successful Olympic canoeist/kayaker in the history of the Games is Birgit Fischer, whose Olympic career spanned almost 25 years. As Canada's Royal Canoe Club notes, Birgit Fischer, German champion, reigned from 1980 to 2004, being 'both once the youngest- (aged 18) and the oldest-ever (aged 42) Olympic Canoe Champion winning eight gold and four silver medals, along with 28 World Championship golds, six silver and four bronze'.