ABSTRACT
In the context of Latin American females in physical activity, high performance sport and sport leadership in the US, notable changes have begun to occur. American female athletes won more gold medals in the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games than their male counterparts. Sport offered some Latinos opportunities to rise above poor socioeconomic conditions that included racial discrimination and segregation, as well as limited economic growth. Support for Hispanic female sport participants is also unequal to their male counterparts. The link between physical activity and sport participation in Hispanic females are disproportionately impacted by chronic diseases and health risk behaviours, and young Latinas participate in physical activity and sport in lower numbers than non-Latinas. In a recent poll by Salvador 2015, the ten most influential female athletes who made sport differences included Rebecca Lobo, of Cuban origin, who was the only Latin American woman in the US to rank in the top ten.
