Dear Editor,

Women have long campaigned for equal pay in professional sports, and one must applaud the US House of Representatives for passing a Bill that ensures equal compensation for women competing in international events. Tennis has the smallest gender pay gap in sports, but women players still earn around 34 per cent less than their male counterparts.

The annual boys’ and girls’ championships is one of if not the most watched high school track meet worldwide. Many of our most accomplished athletes started their journey there, including Usain Bolt, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, and Elaine Thompson-Herah. Many records have been set, equalled, and even erased over the years at this famous track meet.

The meet, however, has once again highlighted a blight on how we recognise and treat male and female athletes. Bouwahjgie Nkrumie of Kingston College sent tongues wagging when he stopped the clock at 9.99 seconds in the Class One 100m event. But minutes before we were treated to an equal, if not even more spectacular, run by Hydel High School’s Alana Reid, who clocked 10.92 seconds for the female equivalent. Inevitably, the media, both print and digital, were dominated with the latest record-breaking exploits by both athletes, but more so that of Nkrumie.

A more detailed perspective will, however, reveal the bias that is unfortunately still geared towards females in sports. The print media on the following day was dominated by the feat of Nkrumie while Reid’s domineering run was somewhat relegated to a more periphery highlight. The same can be said of the online media, whereby more recognition is given to the blue-ribbon event for men.

To put both races in context, let us compare their times with that of elite athletes competing at the professional level. In the 2016 Olympics Alana Reid would have finished in 6th position, while Nkrumie would have ended up in 9th position. In the 2020 Olympics finals, Reid would have finished in 5th position, while Nkrumie would have finished 7th. Even though neither would have ended up on the podium, Reid would have finished higher than Nkrumie in both events.

In the second most prestigious track and field competition, the World Championships, Reid and Nkrumie would have both been placed in the top 10 in the finals. In the 2019 World Championships Reid would have finished in 5th position with her flash time of 10.92, while Nkrumie would have ended up in 9th position. In the 2022 Reid would have finished in 6th position, the same as Nkrumie.

These placements justify the claim that Reid’s feat was worth mentioning in the same breath or even given more prominence than that of Nkrumie. It is time for us to put female achievements in sports on the same pedestal as we do the males’.

Mikhail A Graham

mikhailgraham@yahoo.com