FERNWOOD FITNESS - PULSE eMagazine - Issue#16 - Flipbook - Page 45
More visibility, more participation
What happens on the elite stage
matters for grassroots behaviour.
When girls and women see strength
and skill celebrated, it can shift what
feels possible.
In Australia, the ABC reported that
Australian Sports Commission data
showed women’s participation in
amateur weightlifting grew 昀椀vefold
between 2016 and 2022, re昀氀ecting
growing comfort and interest in
strength based training.
This is part of a broader move away
from training purely to be smaller,
and towards training to be stronger,
more capable, and more resilient.
The uncomfortable truth: the
research gap is still real
only about coverage and cash. It
is about systems that actually 昀椀t
women’s bodies.
Women athletes are winning the
attention economy
Another fascinating piece of the
story is media impact. Deloitte noted
that at a major global event, women
athletes received 43% of competition
news coverage, yet generated 53%
of total engagement across social
content, highlighting how strongly
women athletes connect with fans
when given a platform.
In other words, the demand is
there. The audience is there.
The engagement is there. The
opportunity now is for media and
brands to keep pace.
For all the progress, women’s sport
is still dealing with a stubborn lag in
research and evidence. That matters
for everything from performance to
injury risk to recovery protocols.
Women’s sport is not
having a moment. It is
building a movement.
In launching the Kang Women’s
Institute, U.S. Soccer cited analysis
suggesting that only 6% of published
research in sports and exercise
journals focuses exclusively on
women, leaving generations of female
athletes working from models built
around male physiology.
It is growing into a global business
category, creating new spaces
for fandom, reshaping brand
partnerships, and in昀氀uencing the
way everyday women think about
strength, training, and identity.
There is still work to do, especially in
research and equitable investment,
but the direction is clear.
This is one of the most important
frontiers in the revolution, because
the future of women’s sport is not
The revolution continues. And this
time, it looks like it is here to stay.
