University of Toronto Report Reveals Inequalities at London 2012

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The London 2012 Olympics - A Gender Equality Audit. From the Centre for Sport Policy Studies at the University of Toronto, Peter Donnelly and Michele K. Donnelly analysed gender equality in sport using the case of the 2012 London Olympics.

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From the Executive Summary: "The data in this Report show that there is still some way to go to achieve gender equality, and our recommendations deal primarily with the main concerns: equalizing the number of medal events for men and women, and establishing near equivalence in the number of women and men competitors.

However, we are concerned that attempts to control Olympic ‘gigantism’ are being linked to efforts to increase gender equality in a way that pits men and women against each other – reducing the number of men’s events in order to increase the number of women’s events. It should be remembered that men and women athletes are not the one’s responsible for ‘gigantism’ or for gender inequality at the Olympics, and should not be the ones to suffer through resolving one problem by creating another. If achieving gender equality means increasing the size of the Olympic Programme, at least temporarily, so be it.

Our priority recommendations are:

Equalize the number of events/medals available to men and women; and

Establish near equivalence in the number of men and women who are permitted to compete at the Olympic Games, and in specific Olympic sports/events.

It is no longer justifiable to maintain an Olympic Programme where there are 30 more events for men than for women." ~Authors Peter Donnelly and Michele Donnelly.

http://www.playthegame.org/knowledge-bank/articles/the-london-2012-olympics-a-gender-equality-audit-5567.html

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