Inspirational stories and supportive advice have been shared during the inaugural WISE seminar, bringing together women from all over the world to improve education and representation in our sport.
The Women in Shooting sport Education platform was set up earlier this year by the ISSF Academy in a bid to provide opportunities for women, supporting the ISSF's goals for improved gender equality.
Hosted by ISSF Academy Head of Administration, Karoliina Nissinen, the three-hour webinar started with a welcome video message from ISSF President Luciano Rossi, before the panelists were introduced.
First to present was Emma Terho, the Chair of the IOC Athletes' Commission and Vice-President of Finnish Ice Hockey Association. She spoke about the necessity for gender equality in coverage of the Olympic Games, noting the Paris 2024 Olympic Games was the first gender-equal Games in participation. She mentioned the push for women's events to not just be held in the morning to ensure opportunity of exposure can be equal to men's events.
She also highlighted the number of female officials rising from Tokyo 2020 to Paris 2024. Going forward, she made it clear the IOC were pushing for more gender representation across all of its boards and committees and supporting more leadership positions for women before the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.
Former trap athlete Gaby Ahrens, the Vice-chair of the WADA Athlete Council, Vice President of the Namibia National Olympic Committee and Africa Liaison to IOC Athletes' Commission; detailed her journey from being a young athlete to her career post-retirement.
She mentioned finishing last at her first Olympic Games and her redemption at Rio 2016 eight years later when she finished an impressive 10th place overall. She told the participants the struggle of coming from a small nation in Africa and the lack of opportunity for competition and the high financial cost involved in some regions, adding she was the only non-professional athlete in the women's trap field at London 2012.
The Women in Shooting sport Education platform was set up earlier this year by the ISSF Academy in a bid to provide opportunities for women, supporting the ISSF's goals for improved gender equality.
Hosted by ISSF Academy Head of Administration, Karoliina Nissinen, the three-hour webinar started with a welcome video message from ISSF President Luciano Rossi, before the panelists were introduced.
First to present was Emma Terho, the Chair of the IOC Athletes' Commission and Vice-President of Finnish Ice Hockey Association. She spoke about the necessity for gender equality in coverage of the Olympic Games, noting the Paris 2024 Olympic Games was the first gender-equal Games in participation. She mentioned the push for women's events to not just be held in the morning to ensure opportunity of exposure can be equal to men's events.
She also highlighted the number of female officials rising from Tokyo 2020 to Paris 2024. Going forward, she made it clear the IOC were pushing for more gender representation across all of its boards and committees and supporting more leadership positions for women before the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.
Former trap athlete Gaby Ahrens, the Vice-chair of the WADA Athlete Council, Vice President of the Namibia National Olympic Committee and Africa Liaison to IOC Athletes' Commission; detailed her journey from being a young athlete to her career post-retirement.
She mentioned finishing last at her first Olympic Games and her redemption at Rio 2016 eight years later when she finished an impressive 10th place overall. She told the participants the struggle of coming from a small nation in Africa and the lack of opportunity for competition and the high financial cost involved in some regions, adding she was the only non-professional athlete in the women's trap field at London 2012.
Gaby Ahrens and Danka Hrbekova were recently at the IOC Session earlier this yearAhrens also mentioned the move into administrative roles shortly after retirement and having to deal with the sudden loss of her brother saying: "I was not only dealing with leaving the sport I loved, but I was dealing with deep personal sadness." In 2017 she was awarded a scholarship from her government to study a Masters degree in Sports Management, learning skills around governance, clean sport and athlete welfare and saw it as an opportunity to give representation to underrepresented nations.
Following this, Slovakian shooting sport great Danka Hrbekova spoke about the changing environment of the sport since first competing in 1998, when she was objectified at her local shooting range because of the perceived attractiveness of a woman holding a gun. She also highlighted the importance of the junior category, which was introduced during her younger years in a period where she could only face other women of all ages, finishing last alongside her twin sister Lenka in senior competition as young teenager beforehand.
Hrbekova, who won a Olympic bronze medal in skeet in 2012 and became world champion in 2023, is a member of the International Olympic Committee and Vice-President of the Slovak Olympic and Sports Committee. She made it clear that initiatives such as Agenda 2020 provided the same opportunity for women as men in Olympic sport and was a turning point for women's sport.
Following this, Slovakian shooting sport great Danka Hrbekova spoke about the changing environment of the sport since first competing in 1998, when she was objectified at her local shooting range because of the perceived attractiveness of a woman holding a gun. She also highlighted the importance of the junior category, which was introduced during her younger years in a period where she could only face other women of all ages, finishing last alongside her twin sister Lenka in senior competition as young teenager beforehand.
Hrbekova, who won a Olympic bronze medal in skeet in 2012 and became world champion in 2023, is a member of the International Olympic Committee and Vice-President of the Slovak Olympic and Sports Committee. She made it clear that initiatives such as Agenda 2020 provided the same opportunity for women as men in Olympic sport and was a turning point for women's sport.
Susan Nattrass, centre, is considered one of the greats in women's shooting sportShe was followed by Dr. Susan Nattrass, a seven-time world champion and six-time Olympian, considered a pioneer in women's shooting. She competed in open and women's categories during her career and mentioned the issues she had as an elite shooter, including the separation of men's and women's shooting. She was the first female trap athlete to compete at the Olympic Games, back in 1976,
While on the field Nattrass was a legend, her work off the field of play can be considered as impactful, working to receive equal opportunity for women for decades. She was pivotal to women being allowed to compete in skeet and trap again, lobbying for changes during the 1990s - including lobbying all IOC members and ISSF members and creating petitions and surveys for athletes to participate in at major events. While they were brought back for Sydney 2000, it came with less targets than the men. In 2018, this change was made to bring women's events fully equal with men's events. Closing her speech, she called for vigilance from all participants to protect the advances made so far.
Closing the webinar was ISSF Media Manager, Juliana Daguano, who spoke about her journey into sports communications as a student journalist from Brazil. Daguano stressed that several paths can be taken to work in media, showing she did not come from a sport to become involved in the sports media industry. She highlighted gender diversity as a necessity to provide new perspectives to media teams and invited participants to work with the ISSF Communications department for feedback and to suggest interesting stories.
There were over 600 registrations for the WISE webinar, with plans for the platform to provide communication for all women around the world. Participants' input was suggested too, with a group chat soon to be formed for those who wish to work together and support one another.
While on the field Nattrass was a legend, her work off the field of play can be considered as impactful, working to receive equal opportunity for women for decades. She was pivotal to women being allowed to compete in skeet and trap again, lobbying for changes during the 1990s - including lobbying all IOC members and ISSF members and creating petitions and surveys for athletes to participate in at major events. While they were brought back for Sydney 2000, it came with less targets than the men. In 2018, this change was made to bring women's events fully equal with men's events. Closing her speech, she called for vigilance from all participants to protect the advances made so far.
Closing the webinar was ISSF Media Manager, Juliana Daguano, who spoke about her journey into sports communications as a student journalist from Brazil. Daguano stressed that several paths can be taken to work in media, showing she did not come from a sport to become involved in the sports media industry. She highlighted gender diversity as a necessity to provide new perspectives to media teams and invited participants to work with the ISSF Communications department for feedback and to suggest interesting stories.
There were over 600 registrations for the WISE webinar, with plans for the platform to provide communication for all women around the world. Participants' input was suggested too, with a group chat soon to be formed for those who wish to work together and support one another.