I am sick and damned tired of the blatant misogyny rampant in sports, and particularly the Olympics. When the men win, the US almost declares a national holiday, while patting the heads of the women, like our favorite puppy, saying, “good girl.” The men’s goalie is about to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor, even though the women’s goalie outperformed him in the Olympics. How is that anything but blatant sexism and misogyny? We’ve already heard enough about the comparisons between the women’s and men’s hockey teams, where the women have won a medal in every single Olympics since 1998, when women’s hockey debuted. Furthermore, they won gold in that first game, did it again in 2018, and now in 2026. Compare that to the men who haven’t won the Gold since 1980. While they now have the same number of gold medals as the women, it took them 106 years to achieve that, compared to less than 30 for the women. But that isn’t the only comparison between men’s and women’s sports. I did some research to find out just how much the US women dominate compared to the men. And I also looked at the comparison of how women versus men have been treated at the White House.

In 2012, when the percentage of men versus women competing in the Olympics was barely a close call, the women won 58 of the 104 total medals, including 29 gold medals out of 48, despite the fact that only 44.2% of the athletes in that Olympics were women. Since the 2012 Olympics, women have dominated in terms of the percentage of total medals won.
In Milan in 2026, the women snagged a total of 17 medals compared to the men’s 12, with 6 golds compared to the men’s 4.
In the 2024 Summer Olympics, the women had 68 total medals, compared to the men’s 52, with 26 gold medals, compared to the men’s 13.
In the 2022 Winter Olympics, the women had 13 total medals, compared to the men’s 8, with 4 gold, compared to the men’s 2 gold.
In the 2020 Summer Olympics, the women had 66 total medals, compared to the men’s 41, with 23 gold medals, compared to the men’s 16.
In the 2018 Winter Olympics, the women had 12 total medals, compared to the men’s 9, with 5 gold, compared to the men’s 4.
In the 2016 Summer Olympics, the women had 61 total medals, compared to the men’s 56, with 27 gold medals, compared to the men’s 18.
In soccer, the stats are not even close. The men have never won a FIFA World Cup. The women have won it four times and have reached the semifinals every time. To add insult to injury, the women have the most gold medals in the history of the women’s competition, with four (1996, 2004, 2008, 2012), and have medaled at every Olympics, with a silver in 2000 and a bronze in 2020. The men have never won a medal in the modern Olympics, only snagging a silver and bronze during the 1904 Olympics in St. Louis. And Trump had the gall to call them losers and woke.
The White House honoring Olympic athletes has not always been one-sided. In 1964, JFK invited Wilma Rudolph to the White House. In 1984, Ronald Reagan praised Debbie Armstrong for the first gold medal for women in a skiing event after speaking to the entire Olympic team (men and women). Before Trump, modern-day presidents have always congratulated both men’s and women’s athletes, without making some crass joke about feeling compelled to note the achievements of women athletes. It really isn’t that hard to do. Reagan, both George HW Bush and George W Bush, and, of course, all the Democratic leaders, but Trump just has to keep showing who he really is–a misogynist, racist, homophobic, sexist disgrace.

Celebrating Women Olympians – One Shot at Love

https://annettemoriauthor.com/one-shot-at-love/

So, really, who should be celebrated most for their success in sports? I think the facts are clear. US women dominate, so how about stop being such dicknobs and give them their due respect, because they have most certainly earned it. None of us should give anyone a pass when making crass, stupid, passive-aggressive jokes that are not funny at all. I’m tired of hearing that it was just locker-room talk or “boys will be boys.” And women, we have a responsibility to teach our boys that they have a duty to call out bad behavior. To make a choice not to laugh and confront those who do. It is a travesty that we still make excuses for that bad behavior or diminish the impact by insisting it is just hysterical, political talk, blown out of proportion. Shame on any woman who continues to support the misogyny. I’ve only written one sports-related/Olympic-athlete novel with a deeper main plot, titled One Shot at Love. The main character may not be in a sport that is as well-known or as sexy as soccer or hockey, but I believe all women Olympians deserve respect. Feel free to check the book out, or any of my other novels! I love writing about strong women.