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University of South Carolina women's basketball coach Dawn Staley called the attention toward women's sports in the 2024 Paris Olympics a movement. She was elated with the development and argued the surge in attention was not momentary.
When Staley joined MSNBC's Morning Joe on Saturday, she was asked about the historic viewership of the Paris Olympics. She said:
"Well, I don't think that it's a fad. I think this is and I've said this plenty of times that I think women's sports have been held back for a very long time. And now we are in a place where we are in high demand. Like I don't think there's room for everybody but in a way we have to do it strategically where it makes sense.
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"And I'm glad we're in this place. I do think that it's definitely a movement, that people are, ... they're joining in."
The viewership of the 2024 Paris Olympics took many by surprise. On NBC networks, 35 million viewers watched Simone Biles, Katie Ledecky and Sha'Carri Richardson winning medals.
In the women's basketball final game between France and USA, 10.9 million basketball enthusiasts tuned in. The surge in viewership was similar for other games, too.
Gender parity was a priority in the Olympics this year. Of the 329 medal events, 157 were men's and 152 were women's, while 20 were mixed gender events.
Dawn Staley was part of delegation for 2014 Paris Olympics opening ceremony
The University of South Carolina coach was part of the Presidential delegation for the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics. First Lady Jill Biden was also a part of the delegation.
Staley attended several games and shared how the experience was different. She said, via Associated Press:
“There’s no pressure and I am seeing everything. I wasn’t able to do this before because I was always competing.”
As a player, Dawn Staley won gold at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996, the Sydney Games in 2000 and Athens in 2004. Later, as a coach, she won gold at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
What do you think about the attention gravitating toward women's games in the 2024 Paris Olympics? Let us know in the comments section below.
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