“Over half of the Team USA medalists were women this year; how awesome is that?” asked the WIBW 13 News correspondent while speaking to Tara Davis-Woodhall. The gold medalist applauded in joy, knowing she could contribute to the historic medal count with a gold in the women’s long jump. However, this feat may have been impossible without the Paris 2024 organizers.

Besides making the Seine swimmable again (albeit temporarily), France scripted sports history. For the first time in Olympic history, the 2024 Summer Games achieved numerical gender parity. Of the 10,500 athletes who competed in Paris, 5,250 were women. So, in the wake of the historic achievement, Davis-Woodhall made a bold statement about women in sports.

“To see women’s sports grow so much in 2023 and 2024, I am so inspired,” said Tara Davis-Woodhall. The athlete also remembered how difficult the road has been for women’s sports. “Women were not supposed to be athletes. Women were not supposed to be doing anything but bearing children and cooking in the kitchen. And now we have the most medals,” she told 13 Sports.

The World Indoor Champion had a good reason behind the statement. Although the Olympics have always been at the forefront of progress in sports, women couldn’t participate until 1900. In fact, it was the City of Light that welcomed women for the first time at the 1900 Paris Olympics. Less than a century ago, at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, only 8.4% of the athletes were women.

Tara Davis-Woodhall remembered the phrase ‘women can do anything’ during the interview and used Paris 2024 as an example. “The proof is in the pudding right there,” said the 25-year-old Olympic champion. While Tokyo 2020 initiated the push with 47.8% women athletes, Paris 2024 touched the milestone. However, Paris 2024 was a turning point in more ways than one.

Making more room for women such as Tara Davis-Woodhall

While the 50% stats stand out, a lot went on behind the scenes to make that stat a reality. Not just the overall numbers; organizers ensured historic firsts in individual sports. For the first time in boxing history, the 2024 Summer Games feature the same number of weight classes for men and women. These changes also extended beyond the field of competition.

IOC Athletes Commission member and U.S. track and field legend Allyson Felix ensured that mothers participating in the Olympics didn’t have any issues during competition. She partnered with Pampers to inaugurate the first ever Pampers Nursery at the heart of the Olympic village. Tara Davis-Woodhall also didn’t exaggerate the way women have performed in the games.

According to Forbes, U.S. women have outperformed men in medal count not just in Paris but in previous Games as well. In Tokyo 2020, women won 60.5% of all medals for Australia, while the number claimed was even higher for China at 66%. So it’s no surprise that 25-year-olds are proud and boldly hopeful about the future of women’s sports.