Women in sport - a roundtable with Olympic, world, and aspiring champions

To mark International Women's Day on 8 March, Olympic Channel sat down with Indian badminton world champion PV Sindhu, Ethiopia’s 5000m double Olympic gold medallist Meseret Defar, and Canada's pole vault Commonwealth Games champion Alysha Newman for an exclusive roundtable discussion, In Conversation With..., to talk about the issues facing women in sport.

The three athletes, from completely different backgrounds, spoke openly and honestly about their struggles, challenges, and leadership initiatives throughout their career in sports.

"Strong" and "powerful" are words that resonate

For these athletes who perform at the highest level of their sport, there is plenty of media coverage surrounding their events, and plenty of words written about them.

Newman opened up about some of the adjectives that she prefers to be described with. "I like when someone says she's so powerful. She walks in a room and she's powerful. She lights up the room. I think that that is something I've always taken really to heart" the 26-year-old reveals.

For Sindhu, the word "strong", was clearly her favourite, with the Indian saying that hearing others referring to her as a "strong woman" boosts her confidence and makes her believe that achieving anything is possible.

"When people say that she's strong, she can do anything... these are a few words that make me strong in my life," the 2019 world champion added.

A struggle like no other

While all three athletes have faced challenges in their careers, none were as grave as the dangers faced by Defar when she was embarking on a journey to become an athlete.

The world record-breaker shared how dangerous it was growing up as a young girl in Addis Ababa, where the threat of sexual assault was ever-present. "In Ethiopia, too many women, young women, are raped outside, when they play or when they go to the jungles."

As a result, her mother was not keen for her to become an athlete but, with her father's support, the 37-year-old was able to pursue her dreams. Despite this, she still faced many other obstacles along the way.

Children or career?

Often, the decision to start a family is seen as a difficult one for female athletes. A woman's typical peak age range for giving birth coincides with them being in the prime of their careers in many sports.

Sindhu, 25, shared that she would prefer to play for at least another four to five years before considering becoming a mother.

Defar, the only mother amongst the trio, was quick to jump in the conversation, adding her encouraging thoughts on the matter. The double world champion shared that women are even stronger after becoming mothers. "One year after giving birth, I got second at the World Indoor Athletic Championships."

"Alysha, we need to do that," was Sindhu's response. To which Alysha said, "OK, after Tokyo," before quickly adding, "Just kidding."

But Defar's achievements both pre- and post-childbirth are proof that motherhood does not signal the end of a female athlete's sporting career. Having just given birth to her second child three months ago, the Ethiopian is already plotting her second sporting comeback.

The roundtable with Sindhu, Defar, and Newman provided great insight into the sporting journeys of these successful athletes and a look at how the past has shaped the world we live in today.

The Canadian feels that, as women in sport, "We can accomplish anything in this world." That sense of confidence and optimism is certainly an improvement and testament to the progress that has been made in the struggle for equality.

She added, "Those women that are at the top that are paving the way is giving hope for all of us to just keep doing that."