ABSTRACT
Opening Illustration A good portion of the media coverage of the 2012 Summer Olympics, held in London, focused on the presence and performance of women athletes; indeed, some commentators referred to the 2012 Olympics as the “Women’s Games” or the “Year of the Woman.” Th e 2012 Olympics marked the fi rst time that every participating country’s team included women; women’s overall participation represented an all-time high; and
women represented over 40% of all participating athletes, a number that has risen signifi cantly in the past two decades (women represented just 24% of athletes in the 1984 Summer Olympics held in Los Angeles). With the addition of women’s boxing, the 2012 Olympics were the fi rst in which women were included in every sport.
