The assistant professor of sport management contributed to a Women’s Sports Foundation report examining disparities in athletic participation, leadership and media coverage at the 2026 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Share:
Despite progress toward gender equity in international sports, women continue to face significant disparities in athletic opportunities, leadership positions and media representation, according to new research co-authored by Assistant Professor of Sport Management Lindsay Pieper.
Pieper helped author “Women in the 2026 Olympic and Paralympic Games: An Analysis of Participation, Leadership, and Media Coverage,” a report published by the Women’s Sports Foundation examining gender representation across the world’s premier winter sporting events. The findings challenge perceptions that the Olympic and Paralympic movements have achieved gender equality, revealing persistent gaps in participation, coaching and organizational leadership.
“While women have made strides in the Olympic and Paralympic Movements, our research indicates that gender inequities persist in participation, leadership, and media coverage,” Pieper said. “This is important because the International Olympic Committee has suggested that recent Olympics have achieved gender parity in athletic participation, which our research shows is inaccurate.”
The report is part of an ongoing research series first distributed by the Women’s Sports Foundation in conjunction with the 2008 Olympic Games. Pieper joined the research team in 2016 and has helped document the progress and persistent challenges facing women in international sports.
Among the new report’s findings are substantial differences in opportunities available to male and female athletes competing in winter sports.
In Olympic ice hockey, 300 men competed across 12 national teams, compared with 230 women on 10 teams. Women were also excluded entirely from Nordic combined, while unequal roster sizes and event offerings continued to limit opportunities in other disciplines.
The disparities were even more pronounced in the Paralympic Games, where no sport reached 40% female participation. In mixed para ice hockey, for example, 133 men competed alongside just two women.
Researchers also identified differences in competition formats, with women participating in fewer medal events and competing over shorter distances in certain disciplines, including biathlon, short track speed skating and speed skating.
Beyond athletic participation, the report found that women remain significantly underrepresented in positions of authority throughout international sports organizations.
While the election of Kirsty Coventry as the first woman president of the International Olympic Committee marked an important milestone, similar progress has not occurred consistently across other governing bodies. According to the research, no woman served as president of a winter International Federation, while men led 86.3% of National Olympic Committees and 82.1% of National Paralympic Committees.
Coaching representation presented another significant disparity. Team USA’s coaching staffs included 91 men and just 24 women.
Pieper noted that the findings reinforce patterns documented in previous editions of the research series, particularly the limited representation of women in decision-making positions within national and international sports organizations.
Media coverage presented a more complicated picture. While the quantity of coverage devoted to women’s sports increased, researchers found differences in how athletes were portrayed. Men were more likely to appear in active, competitive poses, while women were more frequently depicted in celebratory moments.
Despite the persistent inequalities, the report identified examples of meaningful progress, including the introduction of ski mountaineering at the 2026 Winter Olympics. The sport debuted with equal participation by women and men, featuring 18 athletes of each gender and the same number of events for both.
As the first new sport added to the Winter Games since 2002, ski mountaineering demonstrated how equitable opportunities can be incorporated into a sport from its introduction rather than addressed through subsequent reforms.
The findings also arrive as international sports organizations prepare for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Los Angeles, placing renewed attention on opportunities to improve gender representation.
Source: www.elon.edu
