IRISH Olympic rower Aifric Keogh has spoken out about the lack of female coaches and the problems that can cause, particularly in relation to training around menstrual cycles.
At Tokyo 2020 only 8% of coaches representing Team Ireland at the Games were female, while only 13% of UK coaches were female.
Keogh commented: “There are about six coaches in rowing around at the moment, and there's only one coach that's female, and she's in charge of the junior athletes, so she wouldn't be directly connected to the senior team, but there is one in the entire system.
“I think it's getting better but there's definitely a lot more to be done. Education is a huge part of it - across most sports, there are a lot of male coaches. And they are probably unaware and not educated about the effects of menstruation on training.”
When asked if she thinks sporting authorities are doing enough to support female athletes and encourage conversations and education around menstruation, Aifric said: “Definitely not. There are female doctors who are trying to push the fact that there's not enough research into female athletes.
“If you look at a lot of the research on training or athletes, generally, it's about male athletes. So there definitely needs to be more research done and education across the board with governing bodies. I think it’s about looking after athletes so that they can perform at their best, but also, they can retire from the sport while still healthy.”
Sarah Davies, who is on the UK Olympic weightlifting team, spoke out about her experience saying: “Our senior team coaches are all male. When the younger ones go into competitions, there's always a female staff member with them. But in terms of our senior team, they are all male coaches.”
“When I started weightlifting, it was very male-dominated. We've seen a huge shift in the fitness industry and in weightlifting, to get a lot more women into weightlifting, to the point that our team for Tokyo was a full female team, we didn't actually send any men.”
“Our national team is dominated by women now, which is really cool. So, while we're getting that generational shift in the athletes, we're not quite there yet with the coaches.”
Sarah continued: “You get some coaches who say, ‘Just train like a man, and you'll be fine’. That's not the case. With weightlifting, women generally recover faster than men. The ability to recover from strength training is higher, but women can't train like men”.
Davies went on to explain the difference between male and female performance. “Our bodies are biologically different, it's not possible to do the same thing. Our bodies have different needs.
“We have a menstrual cycle. So, therefore our dietary needs and supplements need to be different. Some coaches will say ‘Well. the guys are doing it, just join in with them’ - well, that's not how it works.”
Both Keogh and Davies are ambassadors for Active Iron, a supplement brand, which has commissioned research into the numbers of female coaches and the stigma surrounding periods.
The number of women competing at the Olympic Games has increased significantly – from 34% of the total at the Atlanta 1996 Games to a new record of 49% at Tokyo 2020, and a commitment to reach full gender equality for the Olympic Games Paris 2024, meaning the gap between women entering traditionally male-dominated sports is narrowing.
In addition to being the most gender-balanced Summer Games in history, Tokyo 2020 saw the implementation of a rule change that allowed one male and one female athlete to jointly carry their flag during the Opening Ceremony. 91% of NOCs (National Olympic Committees) had a female flag bearer - significantly increasing the visibility of female athletes during the event.
Davies said: “We are getting more women going into coaching as they've retired from their own sport, or they're being exposed to it more, but we're still waiting for that shift to happen.
“One of my teammates retired after Tokyo, she's now going into coaching. When we do have more female coaches, it makes things a little bit easier, especially with the younger ones that maybe don't want to talk to a male coach about their menstrual cycle, because they don't really know what's going on with it yet. So, it will make a massive difference as we see more women come through that pathway,” Sarah added.
Active Iron is aiming to break down gender inequalities by amplifying conversations about the challenges female athletes face.
Active Iron believes there is a clear need for more education among coaches and sporting authorities with Sarah and Aifric stating that there is simply not enough research into female athletes and how periods affect their training.
To try and kickstart that change, Active Iron has built out a free guide to menstruation via their period hub that everyone, athlete or not, is currently able to access and share: https://www.activeiron.com/