This summer has been an excellent summer in the name of female empowerment! From both Simone Biles and Simone Manuel slaying away the dragons of racism, discrimination and barriers, to Ibtihaj Muhammad who defies all odds and becomes the FIRST Olympic athlete to wear a hijab and show the world that her talents exceed their ignorant ideologies. Women in the sports industry have been often ignored and put on the back burner when it comes to attention, endorsements, and support. But in 2016, things are heading in a very different direction! Women have been dominating and shattering world records, the attention has definitely been shifted due to the amount of talent that is coming from women across the country! Women in the 2016 Olympic Games have definitely become the worlds top role models when it comes to what strong women can accomplish!
Examples include Serena and Venus Williams who lost their first Olympic duo together, showed young girls, that sometimes winning doesn’t mean accomplishing a medal, its accomplishing growth. Simone Manuel, who wasn’t expected to win her first Olympic GOLD medal. The commentators hadn’t even shown a bit of interest in Simone until she tied with Penny Oleksiak. Rebeca Andrade of Brazil, who completely went against the ‘norms’ of floor routine music and flawlessly executed her routine to Beyoncé! Elaine Thompson of Jamaica becomes the FASTEST WOMAN IN THE WORLD.
Last but not least Aly Raisman who should be everyone’s inspiration goals. Raisman competed in the 2012 Olympics and wasn’t pleased with her performance. She worked her butt off to compete in the 2016 Olympics. Nobody believed in her dream of returning except her parents. Her coach made her work in the back of the gym because he too didn’t believe, but one day Raisman showed everybody that she was worthy to compete in this years games and represent the United States of America. Raisman has finished strong with both a Gold Medal and Also silver after competing against her 2012 runner up and also 2016 Team mate Simone Biles who received gold in those events.
Women are inspiring girls to challenge new heights, look into new careers, and believe that they are worthy of attention. 2016 is the year of Girl Power at its finest and I’m here for it completely!
