Our heroes of the week
Just incase you somehow missed it, the delayed Tokyo Olympics is currently underway. The fact that so many phenomenal athletes from around the world are competing against each other in the current climate is already a superhuman feat. But we wanted to draw attention to three stories about some pretty incredible women that have come to fore during the last week. You may have seen the headlines, but read on for more on the stories and women behind them.
1.Absolute Ballers
The debate about what women can or can’t wear, by people who don’t own the bodies they’re debating about, ranges on; sparked most recently by an absolutely outstanding display of F YOU by the Norwegian Women’s Beach Handball Team.
My new personal heroes decided to take a stand at this year’s European Beach Handball Championship (yes I know it’s not strictly Olympics, but it ties in with our sporting theme) by having the audacity to wear clothing that they were most comfortable, as professional athletes, to play their sport in.
Now you think it would be these women who’d be best placed to decide what clothes aught to be put on their very own bodies. However, the higher ups seemed to strongly think otherwise, denying their request to swap out the traditionally skimpy uniform of the beach handball court (bikini bottoms), for a pair of shorts. They went so far as to warn of fines against the whole team should they decide to compete in them.
Like the Bad Bs they are, the Norway Team decided to wear shorts anyway in their game against Spain last Monday, and The Disciplinary Committee of the European Handball Federation (EHF) fined them 1,500 euros (/150 euros per player) for doing so - on the grounds of “improper clothing”.
Now I do understand the need for rules about sportswear - and if these women had turned up with inflatable armbands and tutus on I could see where the label '“improper clothing” may have come into play. But shorts, really? Riddle me this, how can they be labelled “improper clothing” to play the sport in, when the uniform of male players is (would you Adam and Eve it) SHORTS. (Eye roll x5000).
In a positive turn of events, there’s been widespread support for the team with the mega star (and mega babe) P!nk offering to pay any and all fines handed to them.
Plus, the EHF have since issued a statement explaining that they are discussing the issue and looking to change regulations. But ultimately, whether it’s bikini bottoms, shorts, tutus or anything else - it should always be the womxn in question who have the say on what they want (or don’t want) to do with their own bodies.
2. From swimming for survival, to swimming at the Olympic games
After you hear her story, the name Yusra Mardini is impossible to forget. The incredible 23-year-old athlete has been impressing in the pool at the Olympics, but the swimmer’s journey to Japan is even more incredible than her talent.
Originally from Syria, Mardini came third in the Women’s 100m last weekend, representing a fairly new group – the Refugee Olympic Team. (This will be the 2nd Olympics in which they have competed).
Mardini’s prowess in the pool stems from her father (also a swimmer for the Syrian Olympic team) who raised both his daughters to be expert swimmers. Their training in Damascus came to an abrupt halt, however, when daily shootouts rendered it impossible for the girls and their father to reach the pool. Their plight becoming impossible to ignore when her father was arrested and beaten by regime soldiers and their family home was flattened. Mardini’s family decided that both Yusra and her sister Sarah should flee the country for their safety, despite the risks it imposed. And the two sisters travelled to Turkey, where they were smuggled onto an overcrowded dinghy.
15 minutes after leaving the Turkish coast, disaster struck when the dinghy’s engines seized. The waves were raging and the boat designed for 7 but filled with 20 people, was sinking. It was at this point that Yusra and Sarah bravely climbed into the cold water to help keep the boat steady. They swam for three hours in the open sea, managing incredibly to pull the boat with rope towards the Greek island of Lesbos. With the help of two other refugees, they saved the lives of everyone onboard.
But the journey wasn’t over there. The sisters walked from Greece to Germany ON FOOT, before finally finding a refugee camp in Berlin. Here Mardini finally returned to a swimming pool and found a trainer who helped the sisters get the necessary papers to stay in Germany.
Yusra (L) and Sarah Mardini pose with the Silent Heroes award during the Bambi 2016 media awards ceremony in Berlin, Germany, November 17, 2016. (Reuters)
Not only an Olympian, Mardini is the youngest Goodwill Ambassador for UNHCR, the UN refugee agency - an inspiration and beacon of hope at the grand age of 23. She said the below on her Instagram this week:
“I am so proud of the fact that I am representing 80 million refugees around the world knowing I am sending a message of hope to all of them doing what I love, also showing the world that refugees won’t give up easy and will keep on dreaming even after going through tough journeys.”
3. The power in putting your mental health first
Four-time Olympic gymnastics champion, Simone Biles, made headlines this week when she decided to stop competing in the women’s team event and individual all-around final due to mental health issues.
In doing so on a world stage, Biles has firmly stood for the importance of (as she herself put it) “protect[ing] our minds and our bodies”. Something that in the current climate, couldn’t be more valuable.
Simone has received an outpouring of support, but also (unsurprisingly) a lot of criticism, with many Piers-Morgan-Types calling her ‘weak’ for pulling out on these grounds.
Weakness is a word that could not and will not ever fit Biles. Not only a four-time, (FOUR-TIME!!) Olympic champion, who has broken significant boundaries to reach the top of her sport. Biles is a survivor of the disgraced doctor (whose name we don’t feel like featuring in an article celebrating heroic women) who was jailed for years of sexual abuse against young Team USA gymnasts.
Biles also performed at an extremely high level during this years Olympics despite suffering from “the twisties”, a well-known condition amongst gymnasts, which causes a mental block and loss of their spatial awareness in the middle of complex skills (something that can cause serious injury).
And she’s shown strength again, not weakness, in her decision to put her mental health first. Though it shouldn’t in this day and age, it takes strength, courage and kahoonas to do so. Her decision is a reminder (and I hope, inspiration) for others in all professions, that our mental health is as important as our physical health. No one would have blinked an eye should she have had to pull out due to a shoulder injury, and we believe she should receive nothing but support and admiration for openly stating that her mental health issues would not have allowed her to compete in these events.