Mercedes Coghen, an Olympic gold medalist in field hockey at Barcelona 92, says women were “the second course” up until these Games. This is also confirmed by Theresa Zabell, another woman who won sailing gold in the 470 class at these games along with Patricia Guerra. “We thanked each other when we were allowed to take part in general competitions.” Zabell and Coghen were two of the 114 athletes in the Spanish delegation (out of 397 in total). Women barely made up 28.7%, but they were far more than in the previous ten editions combined (Moscow 80 was 5%, Los Angeles 84 9% and Seoul 88 13%).
If Barcelona 92 marked a before and after in Spanish sport, even more so in the role and future of women. Sums it up like this: Coghen, who was the flag bearer at the closing ceremonies of those games. One woman was chosen, she recalls, precisely to recognize the fine role played by the athletes. Of the 22 medals won by Spain at this edition, eight were won by women. Only in London 2012 and Rio 2016 did they win more: 13 and 9, respectively. “Barcelona 92 was undoubtedly like turning on a light and shining a spotlight on the fact that in Spain there is not only women’s sport, but that women can do it very well. There the doors were opened and the work began. And that, Coghen reveals, the women’s field hockey final wasn’t even scheduled on TVE because nobody trusted them to play it. Modified programming during operation.
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Spanish women’s participation in the Games has remained more or less stable since that event (except for the declines in Atlanta 96 -85- and Sydney 2000 -90-); It’s not just something symbolic anymore. The highest increase was recorded in Athens in 2004 (118), reaching 143 in Rio 2016 and 137 in Tokyo. It took 31 years, yes, for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to decide that, for reasons of parity, there must be two flag-bearers: a man and a woman. And small steps continue to be taken, like the one that took place at Tokyo 2020 with the women’s canoe finally making its debut at the Games. The next task is to reach an equal number of coaches.
When talking about sports pioneers, the image quickly goes to Lili Álvarez (the first Spaniard to take part in the Games in 1924) or Mari Paz Corominas (the first Spaniard to take part in an Olympic final in Mexico 68, a game in which Spain played with only two women came). But it is not necessary to go so far into the past to find others. Theresa Zabell, who is 57 years old today and heads the Ecomar Foundation, was also there. And that was only 40 years ago.
“I always say my first games were Los Angeles 84 and I watched them on TV… It had to be because women weren’t invited. That gives an idea of how things have evolved since then.” The inclusion of women’s sailing came in Seoul 88 (one modality) and in Barcelona it was expanded to three. But Zabell had been competing and winning since 1976 when he was 11 and decided his dream was to go to the Olympics. As she recalls, “It seems very simple, but when there are no events for girls in most sports, you realize it’s an impossible dream. When I won my first Spanish championship in 1980, the top three boys went straight to the World Cup; I stayed at home”.
The explanation? “No, it was just like this: we had no right. In fact, I thought there was no Women’s World Cup and when I discovered it I decided to go the following year. I paid for it myself when I was 16 after saving 12 months, finding someone to drive me to Holland and staying in a tent. I ate fries with mayonnaise all week because it was the cheapest and only thing I could afford. The boys were paid by the federal government.”
Zabell says if that happened now it would be on the front page of every newspaper; back then no, because that was normal. In my federation [la de vela] There was no budget line for women’s sport until a women’s event was included in the Olympics.” He says he’s heard phrases like this when he competes abroad: “Great! You girls will sail in Spain too, we’ve never had which ones seen”.
That is why Barcelona is and was so important in 92, where up to ten Olympic disciplines had Spanish athletes for the first time. Something similar to what Zabell experienced is also described by Mercedes Coghen, who in this sense highlights the importance of the Sports Act of 1990 (which gave the state an active role in the promotion and development of sport) and the implementation of ADO scholarships . “We didn’t have the same level of competition as the boys in the clubs. There were hardly any girls doing sports, we were 500 across Spain with a physical preparation like in school. The lack of base was enormous, we had to work a lot.”
Barcelona 92 marked a before and after. “In the federations, all the means, the best coaches, the budget, the hours and days for travel and competitions were dedicated to the men’s teams. Barcelona 92 cut off that inertia. Matching was allowed. For me, that was the legacy of those games.”
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