Inclusivity is fueling American dominance in global athletics

Tuesday, Aug. 17, 2021 | 2 a.m.

For Americans, the story of this year’s Olympic Games was almost entirely about the remarkable achievements of our nation’s female athletes.

U.S. women took home 23 of the 39 gold medals won by Americans and 66 of our 113 medals overall, playing a key role in the United States beating out China to capture the medal count.

But the numbers are only part of the story. The dominance on display by American women was astonishing. We saw it in team sports like basketball — where the U.S. won a seventh straight gold medal, an unrivaled team dynasty — volleyball, water polo and track relays. Then there were individual triumphs such as gymnast Sunisa Lee becoming the fourth straight all-around champion.

The performances of all U.S. athletes were thrilling to watch, but the success of our women and LGBT athletes took on added significance this year. It reflected how the fruits of Title IX anti-discrimination efforts have borne out.

The parade of women athletes to the medal stand was a spectacular example of how, by concentrating on creating a more level playing field in the face of discrimination, our entire culture benefits. We’re all winners when we give everyone a fair opportunity to succeed.

On the flip side, suppressing women and stigmatizing LGBT athletes was counterproductive — it just meant our nation never benefited from their abilities. They were forced to watch from the sidelines when they could have been shining on a global scale, and elevating our country.

This offers a lesson in all aspects of our lives. When any segment of our population is held back or pushed down, we lose.

As Title IX approaches the 50th anniversary of its passage in 1972, investments in equal-opportunity measures since then have created expanding levels of achievement, with each generation of women building on the successes of those who came before. We see it throughout our culture, in business, academics, athletics and elsewhere.

To understand how far we’ve come in athletics, consider that an estimated 295,000 girls participated in high school sports in 1971 compared with 3.4 million today. The reason: There were so few high school sports for girls back then, an inequality that extended into college. And outside of golf and tennis, professional sports paying more than a pittance to women were virtually nonexistent.

This year’s Olympics found gender-equality progress on an upswing. In many cases, women outshone or performed as well as men competing in counterpart sports.

In golf, Americans Nelly Korda and Xander Schauffele both won gold. Women won 18 medals in swimming compared with 12 for the men, with the men capturing eight golds. Marathoner Molly Seidel became just the third American woman to medal in the event, claiming bronze.

The U.S. women’s soccer team, despite settling for bronze, once again outshone the men’s program, as it has on the global stage for 20 years.

On and on it went, with women contributing their share — and more — to America’s overall success.

Meanwhile, a growing presence of athletes from Muslim nations revealed the benefits of efforts in those nations to improve equality. Progress is slow, but it’s happening.

The U.S. has plenty of room for improvement too, as revealed in the women’s soccer team’s ongoing legal quest to earn equal pay.

But with each triumph like those of this year’s women Olympians from the U.S., more girls are inspired to play. With every performance by a competitor like shot-putter Raven Saunders, an LGBT athlete and staunch advocate for racial justice and mental health, more individuals who have been treated as an “other” for whatever reason are emboldened and inspired to come forward.

Inclusion breeds participation, which breeds success, which breeds more success. It’s a winning formula, and we saw it on full display during this year’s Olympics.

May the progress continue — on the field of competition, in school halls and campuses, in commerce and throughout our society.