In these times, when the fight for gender equality has made important progress, the presence of female athletes in the delegations that have represented Panama in the Olympic Games is much more noticeable.
For the next Olympic joust, which will start at the end of this month in Tokyo, a total of six ladies will have the responsibility of defending the national colors, along with four gentlemen.
Gianna Woodruff (athletics), Nathalee Aranda (athletics), Kristine Jiménez (judo), Emily Santos (swimming), Atheyna Bylon (boxing) and Miryam Roper (judo) are the six women who already have their tickets to Tokyo. Of these, only Bylon (2016) and Roper (2012 and 2016 for Germany) have previous experience in this type of fair.
“I am very proud that the ladies of our country are having more opportunities and support to compete internationally, so we see this result, that year after year women athletes have also been empowered and today we are more girls in the Games Olympians representing Panama, and I am very happy to be part of this team ”, commented judoka Jiménez to La Prensa.
Background
This will be the third time that a Panamanian delegation has more ladies than gentlemen and the second in a row.
It happened for the first time at the 1960 Rome Games, when sprinters Carlota Gooden, Jean Holmes, Silvia Hunte and Lorraine Dunn were part of the delegation of six athletes sent by our country.
While in the last games, which were held in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro in 2016, of the 10 Creole athletes who competed, 6 were women: Isabella Amado (gymnastics), Yvette Lewis (athletics), Eileen Grench (fencing) , Carolena Carstens (taekwondo), María Far (swimming) and Atheyna Bylon (boxing).
More dedicated
Yesica Jiménez, who attended the 2008 Beijing Olympics in the discipline of fencing, has her theory as to why women are gaining more ground in the Panamanian Olympic delegations.
“It does not mean that women practice more than men, but that, suddenly, we are more dedicated, with clearer goals,” said Jiménez, 41, who is currently a medical doctor.
“I think that many of the athletes who previously went to the Olympics served as an inspiration, for both female and male athletes, that many things can be achieved through sport,” he added.
