Pam Boteler, President of WomenCAN International, responds to this New York Times article on Olympic Canoeing.  SportsceneTV published this response on July 17, 2017.  

Olympics & Gender Equality: Why Focusing on Men “Losing” and Women “Winning” Misses the Boat

The title of your [The New York Times] June 20, 2017 article “Olympic Canoeing Prizes Balance and Adds More Women to Provide it”, by Brian Pinelli, caught my attention and, initially, added to my excitement about the inclusion of women’s canoe events for Tokyo 2020.  But I was immediately lost with the direct, in your face, and negative tone of the article: i.e., feel sorry for the men, and pay attention to their devastation at losing events and athlete spots for Tokyo.  While Mr. Pinelli stated “it was evident that canoe is a sport divided”, the article does more to fuel further division and cause confusion than bring us together and educate the public under a unified understanding of what is happening and why.

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Photo used in the New York Times article and used here is of Great Britain’s Kimberley Woods, photo credit to Neil Proctor Photography.  Sprint canoe photos used here are of Nadezhda Makarchenko, Belarus and Hungary’s Virág Balla and Kincső Devecseriné Takács.