Nike "Voices" Advertisement

I don't get it how people of the past could discriminate against women playing sports. Our society has grown meteorically from the days when women were not allowed in track events longer than 800m. Nowadays, female sports stars are just as big as their male counterparts. Case in point are the Grand Slam tennis tournaments, where the women's prizes have been upgraded to the same level as the men's event. 

I just love the new Nike "Voices" advertisement. It features pioneers of women's sports like Joan Benoit Samuelson, Lisa Leslie, Diana Tauresi, and Marlen Esparaza "directly addressing the viewer about their own experiences with gender discrimination." Leslie and Tauresi are established basketball stars, while Esparaza is an amateur boxer. Benoit-Samuelson won the first ever women's Olympic marathon at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.

Read: Nike Celebrates Title IX, Female Athletes with ‘Voices'

As a sportsman myself I find sportswomen naturally attractive. There is something inherently beautiful seeing a female sprint hurdler skim over those ten flights of hurdles with grace, or watching a female tennis star trade ground strokes with an equally fierce competitor.

Our world today is not perfect. There are still places in the world where women are treated as second-class citizens, with their basic rights trampled. Although there are still sports which prohibit the Olympic participation of the fairer sex, those disciplines remain the minority.

Dalma Rushdi Malhas (SAU, Equestrian)

In Saudi Arabia, "women cannot drive, marry, leave the country, go to school or open bank accounts without permission from a male guardian." Saudi Arabia, in fact, prohibits women from taking part in sports. It is certainly groundbreaking for such a conservative country to have a female representative to the Olympics.

Read: "Saudi women allowed in Olympics for the first time"

Dalma in action. (Photo from Sky News)

Dalma Rushdi Malhas is world-class equestrienne. She originally held Palestinian citizenship, but has obtained a Saudi Arabian passport. The American-born Malhas, according to recent news articles, was pitted to be Saudi Arabia's first female Olympian. However, the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) came out with a statement saying that the 20-year, in fact, has not qualified for the London Games. 

Read: "Pioneering Saudi woman to miss Games"

Malhas's mother was herself a renowned equestrienne.Dalma was exposed to horses at an early age. It wasn't surprising for the young Dalma to follow the same path. Malhas made history in 2010, when she competed - and won bronze - at the first Youth Olympic Games in Singapore. 

Read: "Dalma Malhas breaks barrier with a winning ride"

Regardless of whether she competes in London or not, Dalma Rushdi Malhas is a beacon for women's rights, not just in Saudi Arabia, but to the rest of the world.

Sources:

Dalma's Wikipedia profile

Bangkok Post article

Washington Post article

Indian Muslim Observer article

Zheng Jie 鄭潔 (CHN, Tennis)

Zheng Jie 鄭潔, together with Li Na 李娜, are the pioneers of women's professional tennis in China. Zheng is a two-time Grand Slam semifinalist. 

Zheng at the 2010 U.S. Open. (Photo from Robbie Mendelson)

As an unseeded entry in 2008, Zheng made it as far as the last four in Wimbledon, becoming the first wild card to achieve the feat in the Ladies' Competition. En route to her breakout performance, Zheng had beaten 2006 French Open Champion Ana Ivanovic and the talented Nicole Vaidisova. She eventually crashed out of the competition, losing to Serena Williams. 

At the 2010 Australian Open, the mouth-watering prospect of an all-Chinese final was in the books, as both Zheng and Li Na made it as far as the semifinals. Zheng and Li, however, lost against Justin Henin and Serena Williams, respectively.

Zheng is currently ranked 27th in the world. Her highest ever placing was 15th back in 2009. To date, the Chinese tennis player has amassed 341 singles victories, 4 WTA titles, and 4 ITF crowns.

Source:

Wikipedia

Track Beauty of the Week: Gesa Felicitas Krause

Gesa Felicitas Krause is this week's track beauty!

Krause is the other half of Germany's women's steeplechase duo. The young German had a breakout year in 2011. After finishing fourth at the World Junior Championships in Moncton, Krause won the European Junior 3,000m steeplechase title in Ostrava. 

Krause clearing the water jump. (Photo from Matthias Reiß / Andreas Grieß/Wikimedia)

The best was yet to come for German distance runner. 

A month after her heroics in Ostrava, Krause flew to faraway Daegu to compete at the World Championships. She did not disappoint. Krause ran a sensational 9:32.74 at the final, finishing in a respectable ninth place - a new European junior record.

Gesa has excellent hurdling technique. Even if the endurance takes precedence over form in the steeplechase races, good hurdlers have a distinct advantage over mediocre ones, especially in close fought contests.

With the London Olympics just around the corner, the German has clocked a season's best of 9:33.10. A podium finish at the Olympics might seem far fetched, considering the circumstances. The upcoming European Championships in Helsinki late this June could provide the venue for the 19-year old's major championship breakthrough. 

Krause, the fifth fastest European in her event, is certainly capable of landing a spot in the coveted podium in Helsinki.

Sources:

Lufthansa article on Krause

Krause's Leichtathlelik Profile

Additional Links:

IAAF Biography

All-Athletics Profile

Track Beauty of the Week: Kristi Castlin

Kristi Castlin is this week's track beauty!

Castlin was poised to make an impact at the 2012 World Indoor Championships in Istanbul. She ran the world's fastest time, a personal best of 7.84sA, en route to winning the tough U.S. Indoor Championships in Albuquerque. The faulty acoustics of the Istanbul stadium, unfortunately, cost her a probable World indoor medal.

Photo from Hokies Sports

Like many other athletes in qualifying, Castlin mistakenly thought that there was a false start, thanks to the echoing retort of the starting gun. The American was disqualified as the rest of the athletes in her heat went on with the race. But then again, the outdoor season holds the bigger prize. Kristi has recovered from her Istanbul experience completely.

At the Bislett Games in Oslo, a Diamond League meeting, Castlin ran a lifetime best of 12.56s, as she finished in a strong second place behind 2011 World Champion Sally Pearson (12.49s). The stylish American took the scalps of her more illustrious compatriots, Lolo Jones (12.75s) and Danielle Carruthers (12.76).

Castlin's hurdling technique is wonderful to watch. Female sprint hurdlers tend to get away with glaring technical flaws because the hurdles in the 100m race are signficantly lower compared to the 110m. I like Kristi's lean as she skims over the barriers. She brings her lead knee closer to her chest than most of her competitors, resulting into a more stable center of gravity throughout the race. Her arm action is picture perfect - snappy, graceful, and compact.

Kristi looks good on and off the track. She has great fashion sense and stands out among the other athletes (she describes herself as "an ostentatious 100m hurdler" in her Twitter account). More importantly, Castlin has the tools - blistering speed and graceful hurdling - to become a legitimate contender in elite women's sprint hurdling.

Additional Links:

Kristi's Twitter

IAAF Biography

All-Athletics Profile

Hokie Sports Profile

Track Beauty of the Week: Nikoleta Kyriakopoulou Νικολέτα Κυριακοπούλου (Nikolia Kyriakopou)

Nikoleta Kyriakopoulou Νικολέτα Κυριακοπούλου is this week's track beauty!

Kyriakopoulou is the Greek pole vault record holder at 4.71m. She set her national mark at the London Grand Prix last year. Prior to her breakout 2011 season, the pole vaulter only had a personal best of 4.55m. In 2011, she qualified for the finals of the European Indoor Championships and the World Championships.

Nikoleta preparing to start her run-up. (Photo from Protein-world.com)

 She placed 9th (4.35m) at the European Indoors, a major improvement from her performance at the European outdoor champs in 2010, where she failed to advance from the qualifying stages.

 In Daegu last August, Kyriakopoulou exited the competition with a best clearance of 4.65m, six centimeters off the Greek national record she set early in the month.

The Greek had a respectable junior career, placing sixth (4.00m) in the pole vault final at the 2004 World Junior Championships in Grosseto.

Nikoleta has shown the world last year that she is capable of the big jumps. She is relatively young at 26-years of age. Kyriakopoulou might not make an immediate impact at the London Olympics, but she is defnitely amongst the elite European female vaulters this year. To date, her 4.50m SB outdoors is the sixth-best by a European athlete. With the European Championships weeks away, Nikoleta looks all set for a fruitful campaign.

Sources:

Wikipedia

IAAF

Cheryl Miller (USA, Basketball)

I must admit that, save for the basketball movie "Annie O.", I hardly know anything about women's basketball. I grew up devouring Philippines' number one sporting passion, but I hardly paid attention to the women's game. While watching a documentary about Reggie Miller, I came across the achievements of his famous sister, Cheryl.

 Photo from Slam Online

Cheryl was a game changer for women's basketball. In high school, Miller posted averages of 32.8 points and 15.0 rebounds. She was the female embodiment of a Wilt Chamberlain, as she scored a staggering 105 points as a high school senior. The 6'2 tall Cheryl attended the University of Southern California, leading her school to two NCAA championships, on top of her numerous individual accolades.

After college, she was even drafted into a men's professional basketball team. Injury, however, cut short her competitive days. Miller had won gold medals with the United States Women's national basketball team, helping her country to first place finishes at the 1986 Goodwill Games and the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.

Source:
Wikipedia

Track Beauty of the Week: Lauren Boden

Lauren Boden is this week's track beauty!

 

In the post-Jana Pittman years, Boden is Australia's best bet in the women's 400m hurdles. Lauren is a six-time Australian champion, a title which she first won back in 2005 as a teenager. That same year, Boden went on to compete at the World Youth Championships in Marrakech, where she won silver (58.30s), on top of her 10th (5.98m) place in the long jump. Boden ran a bit better at the World Junior Championships in Beijing the next year (58.05s), but crashed out at the semifinals.
 

Boden at the Daegu World Championships. (Photo from Zimbio/Getty Images Europe/Chris McGrath)

The one-lap hurdles specialist has a personal best of 55.25s from 2010. Boden is a 6.40m long jumper at her best, a mark she had set in Bangkok at the 2007 World University Games. According to her IAAF stat sheet, Lauren had competed in both the 400m hurdles and the long jump up until 2007, when she decided to focus on the former.

 The Australian is a two-time Commonwealth Games veteran, making her debut in 2006 at the Melbourne Games. Boden was part of the Australian 4x400m quartet that won Commonwealth Games silver in Delhi back in 2010. At the Daegu World Championships, her first major international, Boden ran a lifetime best of 55.78s in the preliminary round, but failed to advance to the final.

Lauren, who trains with 2000 Sydney Olympian Matt Beckenham, secured an early ticket to the London Olympics last February. She bettered the Olympic "A" standard of 55.50s by five-hundredths of a second, en route to her victory at the Sydney Track Classic.

Boden might be be two seconds slower than the more illustrious - and controversial - Pittman-Rawlinson, but her improvement has been gradual. Boden would have to run the race of her life in London, for her to break into the magic eight. For an athlete as focused and motivated as Lauren, the conditions are ripe for success.

Sources:

Athletics Australia

IAAF
 

Additional Links:

Athletics Australia Profile

MBD Profile

Lauren's Official Website

Track Beauty of the Week has moved to Superb Senora!

All the subsequent Track Beauty of the Week posts from hurdler49 shall now appear on Superb Senora. For the complete listing of previous Track Beauty posts, please refer to the links below:

1. 2/18/2012 -5/26/2012
2. 10/31/2011 - 2/13/2012
3. 7/16/2011 - 10/24/2011
4. 4/3/2011 - 7/9/2011
5. 12/11/2010 - 3/27/2011
6. 9/6/2010 - 12/4/2010
7. 5/31/2010 - 8/30/2010

The ten most popular posts are the following:

1. Track Beauty of the Week: Darya Klishina (Дарья Клишина)

2. Track Beauty of the Week: Alenka Bikar
3. Track Beauty of the Week: Cathrine Larsåsen
4. Track Beauty of the Week: Sina Schielke
5. Track Beauty of the Week: Denisa Rosolová (Denisa Ščerbová)
6. Track Beauty of the Week: Christina Vukicevic
7. Track Beauty of the Week: Heli Koivula-Kruger
8. Track Beauty of the Week: Remona Fransen
9. Track Beauty of the Week: Jessica Ennis
10. Track Beauty of the Week: Emma Green-Tregaro        

Ana Ivanovic Ана Ивановић (SRB, Tennis)

Ana Ivanovic Ана Ивановић caught my fancy at the 2006 French Open. She was an exquisite beauty that stood out amongst a sea of lovely faces. Even if she crashed out in the 3rd round, against hometown bet Amélie Mauresmo, I've found my new tennis crush!

 

 

Photos from Wikimedia

Ana finally won Roland Garros in 2008, claiming the scalps of Petra Cetkovská, Patty Schnyder, and compatriot Jelena Janković (who was then the world no.3). The Serb brought down Russian Dinara Safina in straight sets at the French Open final. 

Prior to her Roland Garros victory, Ivanovic made it as far as the Wimbledon semifinals in 2007. The 2008 French Open was the culmination of her gradual ascent to the summit of women's tennis. She could not seem to replicate her form in the coming years. A slew of early Grand Slam exits marred her career. 

Ivanovic has regained a semblance of her old self in 2012, as she barged into the world top 15 rankings for the first time in three years. She had notched victories over former world no. 1 Caroline Wozniacki and 2010 French Open Champion Francesca Schiavone.

As the festivities in Roland Garros unfold, I wish the best for Ana Ivanovic!

Sources: 
Wikipedia
Ana's WTA Profile

Additional link:
Ana's Official Website