2012 was the Games at which women finally achieved parity of participation and, if anything, an advantage in terms of interest over men.
100 years ago women from the USA were only allowed compete in events where they could wear long skirts.  In 1928 when track and field was open to them, a number collapsed at the end of the 800 metres prompting ‘distance’ races to be removed until 1960 on the supposed basis that their constitutions were too delicate.
At 2012 Katie Taylor led the way for Ireland in the same way that Jessica Ennis did for Britain, Carmelita Jeter for the US and a host of other women stars.  Qatar and Saudi Arabia became the final nations to send women athletes to the Games.
Women competing for the USA won two thirds of that nation’s Gold medals and would have finished third in the medal table had they competed in their own right.
The move will continue as well with new sports such as Rugby 7’s only brought into the Rio Games in four years on the basis that there were competitions for men and women.
At the Sport for Business Round Table on women in sport held in May we looked at the fact of only 1% of commercial investment in sport going towards women’s sport.  There are a number of initiatives under way across the world, and Ireland, including some to have emerged from that which will see that number expand.
One of the main benefits of an involvement with women’s sport from a commercial point of view is that the cost of entry is at this stage comparatively well below that of men’s equivalents.
The media interest sparked by the performances at London 2012, as well as the likely publicity that will follow the gold medallists, including Katie Taylor on a worldwide scale will lift the engagement of young women with sport and that presents a number of opportunities for commercial partnership that will make a difference and that will deliver a return on investment.
A number of opportunities in women’s sport are expected to form part of Sport for Business 20/20 which will take place in Dublin in October and give a platform for 20 sports bodies and organisations to pitch their best programmes and events in 2013 to 20 leaders from the business community who show a willingness to get involved in sport and who want to see a range of options in a half day window.