The Endangered Art Of Running Like A Girl
There are many potential landmarks in a young man’s life. His first shave. His first kiss. His first time breaking the women’s 100m world record.
For Jack Hale, the last of these took place on an overcast September afternoon in Hobart, Tasmania. He was 16-years-old. His time of 10.44 seconds shaved 0.02 seconds off the previous Australian under-18 boys record and 0.05 seconds off Florence Griffith-Joyner’s world record of 10.49 seconds. A mark that has stood since 1988.
Yet even though he’s run faster than any female athlete in history, you’ve probably never heard of Jack Hale. Or the 852 other male athletes who broke the 10.49 second-barrier in 2021 (20 of whom were also under 18).
You won’t see them on TV or the cover of magazines. They won’t receive lucrative sponsorship deals or get paid millions of dollars to appear in inspiring adverts. And it’s not because they don’t train hard or make enormous sacrifices to perform at such a high level. It’s certainly not because they don’t deserve recognition.
It’s because, we acknowledge that males and females are different. And that the best of both deserve their place in the spotlight.
