They can be as good!

They can be as good!

If 100 years ago you were in a pub and you told a group of men that someone by the name of Ellen MacArthur would break the record for single-handed circumnavigation of the world. Or that someone called Paula Radcliffe would have ran the marathon in record speed. I expect they would have spluttered into their double brandies.
The sportswoman is still quite a few years behind the sportsman because of history and traditions. Women were not encouraged to spend hours playing football, rugby or golf. Sport for a woman was deemed unladylike. There were medical and aesthetic reasons all proposed against their participation.
So when women eventually tried to break into sports that were considered more dangerous such as motor racing, skiing and horseracing it is unsurprising that their arrival was not welcomed.
However if a woman is capable of childbirth which is extremely painful and dangerous then surely she can make a decision about whether or not she wants to risk a fall or a crash in sport?
In three-day-eventing the situation seems far more advanced with women actually leading the field. Maybe its because women don’t have to rely on the chauvinistic men stuck still in the dark ages to give them the opportunities to ride decent horses.
Eventing can be seen to be just as dangerous, tough and exhausting yet women have been accepted in this sport. Pippa Funnell and Zara Phillips are but a few who have succeeded at the highest level. So when will horseracing finally give women the chances and opportunities they deserve, so a name like Lisa or Sophie can be up their with the greats?