Women athletes in the Olympic Games

The main objective of this paper is to analyse the evolution of female athletes' participation in the modern Olympic Games. The investigation is based on a descriptive mode with documental analysis, crossing various sources and bibliography, such as reports and factsheets from the International Olympic Committee and publications of various authors. In order to enrich the content, throughout the article several incursions are made on the conquests that women accomplished and reached over the period of analysis of this paper. The results show an evolution that has been observed since the beginning of the 20th century, with a paradigm shift, where women embark on a journey towards full equality of opportunity. Since no women participated in the first edition of the Olympic Games, it is now expected that in the next editions of the Games the percentage of sport events and athletes, men and women, will be equal, thus achieving the much-desired 50% equity stake defined in Agenda 2020.