Content Warning: This section refers to disordered eating as well as female abuse in sports.

Lauren Fleshman, a track coach, watches her female athletes loop a track. She notices the details of each athlete’s gait and expression, reflecting on the power of running competitively to empower and excite, as well as the importance of running recreationally in her own life as a retired athlete. She hopes that the women she coaches will retain their inherent love of the sport outside of competition.

Fifty years ago in the United States, Title IX mandated equal opportunity in sports for men and women; however, there is still progress to be made in enacting this equality. Many women drop out of sports in their teenage years. Those who persist do so in a system that frames female puberty as a threat to performance, and they often sustain injuries or endure abuse.

Fleshman celebrates all that she gained from her life as a runner, but she also hopes that the ways that many women suffer in a system built for male athletes can be redressed. She is excited by emerging research in this area, which gives coaches important information on how to best support their female athletes.