Undoubtedly, the gender gap is closed in the Olympics! Yes, you heard it right. Over a hundred years after Paris 1900 gave women their first opportunity at the Summer Games, the French capital successfully hosted the first gender-equal Olympics. For the XXXIII Olympiad in 2024, half of the 10,500 Olympians were women, marking a historic achievement and a slight increase from Tokyo 2020’s 47.8 percent. At the heart of this transformation is Simone Biles, who has revolutionized competitive sports by championing the balance between athletic success and mental health.

In this topic, she too shared her view. Biles shared, “It was super exciting that, finally, 50% of the athletes at the Games were female,” says Biles. (This was a significant milestone: for the first time in history, the IOC allotted quota places for full male/female parity.) “We need women in sports. That number was so important as a demonstration to younger generations. It is exciting to see how far women have come in sports and how we’ve kind of changed that narrative.”

And here’s the kicker: women in the Paris Olympics clinched a total of 479 medals, locking horns with the men who won 499. When it came to gold medals, women bagged 152, highlighting their dominant performance. Among these outstanding achievements, Simone Biles herself won 4 medals, with an impressive 3 of them being gold.

But this all was possible when the IOC’s commitment to gender equality went beyond just the athletes, as it designed a more balanced sports program for the Paris 2024 Games. Of the 32 sports, 28 achieved full gender parity, marking a historic milestone. Even the medal events were more equitably distributed, with 152 for women, 157 for men, and 20 mixed-gender events.

Despite the progress in sports, the global gender gap remains a big issue. The United Nations’ Global Gender Gap Report 2023 showed that only 68.4% of the gap across 146 countries had been closed, with true equality in areas like economics, politics, health, and education still over a century away. Female athletes, in particular, faced challenges, with a World Athletics study finding that 87% of online abuse during the Tokyo Olympics targeted women.

To tackle this, the IOC rolled out an AI-powered monitoring system during the Paris Games. This system kept an eye on social media in real-time across more than 35 languages, flagging and reporting abusive posts. The goal was to create a safer space for athletes so they could focus on their performance without the added stress of online harassment. At the same time, Simone Biles has been shaking things up in gymnastics, leading by example and making some big changes in the sport.

Simone Biles, setting the world on fire—one score at a time

Simone Biles’s performances are a tough gig for any announcer. They often find themselves stumped, with words like “Wow!” and “Incredible!” being their go-to phrases. Biles isn’t just an exceptional gymnast—she leaps higher and tackles tougher routines than anyone else, including a vault so demanding that even top male gymnasts struggle with it. At 27, she’s proving that age is just a number in gymnastics. After winning the Paris Olympics, she becomes the oldest woman to do so since 1952.

In Tokyo, Biles made headlines for more than just her gymnastics skills. After a tough vault, she withdrew from the team competition, revealing a mental struggle that wasn’t immediately visible but was deeply real. This decision, although criticized by some, sparked an important global discussion about mental health.

Biles’s comeback was wow. She’s redefined the sport’s culture, advocating for mental well-being and inspiring athletes from all backgrounds. From addressing past abuses in gymnastics to changing team uniforms to be more inclusive, Biles has played a key role in making the sport more supportive. As she heads to the goat tour, her story shows that leadership can make a lasting difference.