Lydia Ko during the Palos Verdes Championship. Photo / Getty
Lydia Ko during the Palos Verdes Championship. Photo / Getty
OPINION:
One short line from Lydia Ko: "That time of the month."
An international sporting superstar honestly answered a question about on-course treatment during an LPGA event. She could've then taken the mic off the stunned mullet interviewer and dropped it for him.
There is no doubt aroundthe slow but sure progression toward gender equality in sport. From pay to conditions, coverage to recognition, the path is being cleared by discussion, discourse and uncomfortable truths. Ko's frank explanation around her mid-round physio stop is another step toward embracing a holistic sporting landscape where acceptance is a given, not an exception.
The initial shock, from a male-dominated sport media, says a whole lot about men's reticence to take into account one of the most natural occurrences of human existence, the menstrual cycle.
I remarked to my partner that the echo of Ko's words was felt so keenly because it's never spoken about. Her retort? Of course, it's spoken about – just by women, not men.
"It's that time of the month. I know the ladies watching are probably like, 'Yeah, I got you.'"
Sport has focussed on men for generations. Male reckons on women's ability to compete have been a hand brake on full blown engagement for too long. Restrictions based around age-old sexist dogma have been endured by women in many sports as they strive to gain equal footing.
Not so long ago, there were limits on the distance of running events for females – these restrictions were put in place by men, who maintained that long distances would be far too onerous for females. Before the 1980s, there was no women's distance races at the Olympic Games – at the Moscow event, the longest race was 1500 metres.
In 1967, Katherine Switzer ran the Boston Marathon after entering as KV Switzer, the initials disguising her gender. Her entry was accepted, as the race was not open to women. The famous series of photographs of the attempt by race manager Jock Semple to drag her from the race, was a seminal moment in the fight to achieve recognition and acceptance of women competing in physically stressful events. "Experts" claimed that women's health was compromised by running for such great distances.
Kathy Switzer running as Boston Marathon director Jock Semple attempts to stop her from competing in 1967. Photo / Getty
Women's boxing was only accepted by the Olympic movement in 2012, although in 1904 it did appear as a demonstration sport, but generally it was not widely accepted until the end of last century. Triathlon is arguably one of the toughest sports on the planet. It's one of the few sports that has understood and promoted the ability of women to succeed in competition that stresses the human form to its maximum.
Women have been held back in sport by incorrect male preconceptions around pain. I've never experienced period pain. Nor would I wish to. What this cyclical physical event says to me is that women are more capable of dealing with pain and physical stress than males will ever be. The men administering sport for so long have been unwilling to accept that women are our equal, and in this case, superior in their ability to persevere through stress and pain.
The menstrual cycle needs to be discussed, recognised and provided for in sport.
Awareness, especially for our youth, needs to be prominent in sport. Women like Lydia Ko, whose words reverberated around the globe, are important in bringing these discussions to the fore.
