U.S. Athlete Aims For Gender Equality

(ATR) Jordan Gray owns the U.S. record in the women's decathlon. But she can't compete at the Olympics because the event is not part of the Games.

So the native of Ball Ground, Georgia has launched "Let Women Decathlon", a campaign petitioning the IOC to include women’s decathlon in the Paris 2024 sports program.

The effort began on February 3 to coincide with the 35th National Girls & Women In Sports Day.

At last check the petition on LetWomenDecathlon.org had collected more than 4,000 signatures.

In 2019, Gray obtained 7,921 points in a USATF affiliated decathlon. After breaking the American record, Gray says she was driven to create the campaign after meeting female athletes in decathlon who have fought for decades to be included in the Olympic program.

"Having that kind of platform, and meeting all these women I was like wow this is something that is truly wanted in the world in the track and field community I started pushing more to be a voice," Gray tells Around the Rings.

Advertising agency Luckie joined the campaign after learning from Gray that women were not permitted to compete.

"We really just dove on it. It became a different mission. It's 2021 and that's completely unfair. We decided to help her create videos, social posts and create the website to help change this." says Luckie Chief Creative Officer Mitch Bennett.

Since 1912, the IOC has only permitted men to participate in Olympic decathlon citing women’s bodies as incapable of handling the competition. In 1964, the pentathlon was added in Tokyo for women to compete before being replaced by the heptathlon for Los Angeles 1984. Women still do not compete in three of the events that make up the decathlon: 400m, pole vault and discus.

The IOC confirmed its official program for Paris 2024 last December but Gray says she's undeterred in her fight to end gender discrimination in Olympic sport.

"I hope that they [The IOC] will be willing to do a revision after seeing all of the work we put into it after it gets picked up by hopefully a few different corporations. Even if it doesn’t get picked up for 2024, at least it will make enough noise, enough people will know about it and sign the petition to be included for the 2028 Games," Gray tells ATR.

In addition to this campaign, Gray is training for the rescheduled Olympic trials in heptathlon. Gray must qualify at the Olympic trials in order to participate for Team USA in decathlon at the Thorpe Cup. The event pits the United States against Germany in a team event in decathlon and heptathlon.

"I spoke with them last year about potentially letting me do a decathlon at that event. The Germans were all for it, eventually the U.S. side grabbed on to it as well," says Gray.

"That would give Thorpe Cup incredible bragging rights where they had the first international competition where they allowed a woman to do the decathlon. I can’t qualify in that event, unless I go to Olympic trials and do well enough in the heptathlon to even be taken.

"My goal isn’t Tokyo this year it’s just qualifying for that event." adds Gray.

Written by Greer Wilson

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