(Photo: South Carolina Women's Basketball)
2. 🚲 Lotte Kopecky can't seem to lose
After already winning the UAE Tour and Strade Bianche this year, world champ Lotte Kopecky took the sprint finish in the velodrome for the Paris-Roubaix Femmes title too. She is officially the Queen of the Classics 👑
Fortunately, after an ugly crash in the men's Tour of Basque Country a few days before and a crash at the women's Tour of Flanders the week before, there were minimal crashes on the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix for the 4th edition of the women's race. A group of six entered the final velodrome — and Kopecky seemed far back and out of position, but never count her out. She surged in the final straight and timed her sprint perfectly to beat out Elisa Balsamo.
SEE: The three bikes of the podium
PHOTOS: With all the cobbles, dirt, and drama at Paris-Roubaix, pics or it didn't happen
FUN FACT: Meet the first Chinese rider to finish the famous race
What's next?
Liège-Bastogne-Liège on April 21, before the grand tours start with La Vuelta Femenina at the very end of the month.
3. How can trail running bring in more women?
Trail running is one of the fastest growing sports in the world. It's booming around the globe. Races are selling out, new events are popping up all over, more and more athletes are hitting the dirt. Yet, the number of women remains low — and in the longer distance trails, in ultrarunning, it's just over 20% of participants.
Trail running is known for being welcoming and having relatively low barriers to entry (relatively! all you need are shoes, right?). So questions about what's keeping out women and people of color have often sparked hot debate and in-fighting.
That's why we loved this uber-detailed breakdown from iRunFar on the challenges and progress towards equality.
A few key areas they highlighted to attract more women:
- Identify, celebrate (and we'd add, collaborate with) organizations already working towards change
- Provide equal spaces and slots at races for men and women
- Make the trails and spaces safer and make them feel more welcoming
- Adopt policies that meet women where they're at (whether that's buddy systems for safety or longer cut-off times or breastfeeding stations)
- Provide support for moms and for pro runners at all stages of life (ie. pregnancy deferrals, breastfeeding and lactation areas, aid stations that provide female needs, childcare arrangements or assistance when possible)
- More women in positions of leadership across roles and organizations
- Media representation!
Sometimes these things are big (changes in policy that get rid of institutional barriers), but sometimes they're small with a big impact:"The typical image on a race website is the start line, which is almost exclusively faster men — alienating not only women but also many men.”
READ:The fully researched and reported analysis from iRunFar
EXAMPLE: The famous Marathon des Sables has implemented a number of measures to try and increase the number of women — from women's only tents to sanitary products at stops to eliminating the requirement to carry a certain amount of weight in water
(which hit smaller athletes harder, as a percentage of their size)
LISTEN: The Mother's Lane podcast from Molly Huddle & Alysia Montano
Tip of the week
After enduring years of women being labeled as 'hormonal,' it seems like the world finally wants to learn more about the significant impact hormones have.
🤔 But where can you find reliable information?
🤔 What's the essential info you need about training and competing as your hormones fluctuate throughout your life? (👧🤰👵)
🤔 How can you navigate through the sea of pseudoscience to know what genuinely benefits your body?
The answer: Our upcoming four-part podcast series called "HORMONAL" premiering April 15. We're reclaiming agency over our hormones, with a dedicated focus on enhancing performance for women, co-hosted by reproductive endocrinologist Dr. Carla DiGirolamo and Feisty Menopause director Selene Yeager.
Subscribe today to The Feisty Women’s Performance podcast so you don't miss any episodes.
Have questions you want our experts to answer? Ask your questions here.
The highlight reel
Your Feisty recommendations
What to read:All in Stride: A Journey in Running, Courage, and the Search for the American Dream
Worth the watch:RedBull "Race Tapes" Season 2 — following all of last year's behind-the-scenes mountain bike action
What to listen to: How to Build Emotional Endurance and Start Betting On Yourself
Who to follow: Brittany Brown, a track silver medalist, is opening up about running at a pro level while dealing with endometriosis
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