I am annoyed at ESPN. They have created this “Best Female Athlete” bracket with names like Billie Jean King, Lindsey Vonn, Bonnie Blair and Missy Franklin. Conceptually, it is great that they are talking about women’s sports. Unfortunately, the author (Susie Arth) is obviously biased towards women’s basketball. 8 of the 32 women mentioned are basketball players. I admit that I do not follow women’s basketball but I have never even heard of most of these 8 women. 5 are soccer players; 4 are tennis players. In my humble opinion, approximately 10 of the women on this bracket don’t belong there. Notably missing are the following 4:
- Chrissie Wellington: 4-time Ironman triathlon World Champion
- Sonja Henie: 10-time World Champion figure skater
- Tracy Caulkins: 5-time World Champion swimmer
- Rosa Mota: 14-time Marathon winner including 7-time World Major Marathon winner
Come on ESPN, open your eyes. There are other women’s sports out there that push bodies and minds beyond what basketball ever will. Sports that are available to everyone worldwide like running and swimming are poorly represented in your bracket.
As for my training, I tempo-ran 5 miles on the treadmill for a sub-8 pace today. After yesterday’s hard cardio-sculpt class, my butt is somewhat sore. The run today felt pretty difficult. This is actually good; my training is progressing well!