March is Women’s History Month, so let’s look back at a few of the women who paved the way in fitness, health, and sport.
Bobbi Gibb, Running
In 1966, Bobbi Gibb applied to run in the Boston Marathon and was rejected because women were deemed not “physiologically capable of running a marathon.” She hid in the bushes near the starting line and ran anyway, finishing ahead of two-thirds of the men. She came back and ran again in 1967 and 1968. It took until 1972 for women to be officially allowed to enter.
Gibb later became an attorney, a sculptor, and a neuroscience researcher — and still runs daily into her 70s. “I knew if I could prove this false belief about women wrong,” she said, “I’d throw into doubt all the other prejudices and false beliefs that had been used to keep women down for centuries.”
Babe Didrikson Zaharias, Everything
Babe Didrikson Zaharias won two gold medals at the 1932 Olympics, was a three-time All-American in basketball, won 82 golf tournaments, and co-founded the LPGA. The press ridiculed her physique and called her “mannish.”
In 1953 she had colon cancer surgery and came back to win the U.S. Women’s Open anyway. “My goal was to be the greatest athlete that ever lived,” she once said. The Associated Press named her Woman Athlete of the Half-Century. She died at 45.
Rachel McLish, Bodybuilding
When Rachel McLish won the first Ms. Olympia in 1980, women who lifted weights were still widely considered unfeminine. She changed that by building a visibly strong, undeniably feminine physique that appeared on countless magazine covers.
“My whole philosophy was to share this great secret with women,” she said. “With good eating habits combined with weight training, you can really have control over your body.” For women who were told for decades that weights weren’t for them, McLish led the way in proving otherwise.
Wilma Rudolph, Track and Field
Wilma Rudolph survived scarlet fever, double pneumonia, and polio as a child. Her doctors said she’d never walk without a brace. She wore that brace until she was 12. At 20, she became the first American woman to win three gold medals in track and field at a single Olympics and was declared the fastest woman in the world.
“My doctor told me I would never walk again,” she said. “My mother told me I would. I believed my mother.”
Diana Nyad, Swimming
At 64, after four failed attempts spanning decades, Diana Nyad staggered onto a Key West beach after 53 hours in open water — completing the 110-mile swim from Cuba to Florida.
For women over 50 who’ve been told their best years are behind them, her story is a direct rebuttal. “You are never too old to chase your dreams,” she said.
Sister Madonna Buder, Triathlon
Sister Madonna Buder didn’t start running until 48. At 52, her first triathlon. At 55, her first Ironman. At 82, she set the world record as the oldest woman to finish an Ironman triathlon — and the organization had to keep adding new age brackets just to accommodate her.
She has completed roughly 400 triathlons, all after 50, broken multiple bones, and is now in her 90s. “The only failure is not to try,” she says, “because your effort in itself is a success.”
Still think you’re too old to go to the gym?
Let’s go – even you men!
Holly Kouvo is a personal trainer, functional aging specialist, senior fitness specialist, brain health trainer, writer, and speaker.