The 2018 Winter Olympics have given us a lot of new female athletes to follow.
As I am sure most of you know, I am a huge proponent of female athletes. My days playing lacrosse at Duke changed my life for the better, and as a mom I am doing my best to instill in my daughter the importance of finding strong female role models to look up to, especially in the world of athletics.
The 2018 Winter Olympics are almost at an end, and it has been a really exciting run. Not only is watching the Olympic games a fun thing to do with your kids, but its also a good opportunity, especially for little girls to see that females can do anything they put their mind to. The Olympics are especially good for this because of the vast range of sports featured. If your daughter isn’t into lacrosse, maybe she will be inspired by figure skating, or bob-sledding, or even ice hockey. We are living in a great time for women’s sports, but you can never be too supportive of progress, and we have a long way to go before there is true equality between the sexes in the sports world.
READ MORE: How to Create Well-Rounded Young Athletes
Regardless of whether you have kids or not though, its important to acknowledge the accomplishments of female athletes, so here are five women worth watching from the Olympic games this year.
Maame Biney. 18. Short-track speedskating.
Biney emigrated from Ghana to the US at the age of 5, and she is the first African American woman to make the US Olympic speed-skating team. She won the 500-meter finals at her team trials in December, but didn’t medal this year in South Korea. She’s still in high school though, so there is no telling just how far she will go and how fast she will get there.
Brianna Decker. 26. Ice Hockey.
In 2014, Brianna helped the US women’s ice hockey team win a silver medal. She has medaled in six world championships already, and she helped the US team beat Canada this year in South Korea to win a gold.
Karen Chen. 18. Figure skating.
Not only is her name awesome, but Karen broke records at the national championships, and finished fourth-place at the world championship. She didn’t place in the 2018 Winter Olympics, but that doesn’t take anything away from her accomplishments and talent, especially with a mentor like Kristi Yamaguchi.
Mikaela Shiffrin. 22. Alpine skiing.
Mikaela won a gold and a silver medal in the Winter Olympics in South Korea, and is widely regarded as one of the best skiiers in the world. She is the reigning overall World Cup champion, and a four-time winner of the World Cup.
Lindsey Vonn. 33. Alpine skiing.
Most people know who Lindsey Vonn is, as she has competed in the Olympics four times.She walked with a bronze medal this year in South Korea, but her track record speaks for itself. As women athletes though we shouldn’t stop the recognition until Lindsey Vonn is a true household name!