Increase of women in sport won't hurt

"I hope to live to see the day when organising a conference like this would seem like a quaint idea," said Mary Baneham, a member of the Executive Committee of the Olympic Council of Ireland, at the end of the two-day conference on women in sport in Dublin at the weekend. But, in the opinion of the speakers at the conference - who included Michelle de Bruin and Mary Peters - such gatherings will be necessary until the number of female competitors in the Olympic Games rises from it's current level of 25 per cent and until the numbers of women running sport increases from their current "minuscule" levels.

Star speaker of the weekend was, undoubtedly, Anita DeFrantz, vice-president of the International Olympic Committee, who, on Saturday, gave a brief history of women's involvement in the Olympic movement, both as competitors and administrators.

"Good old Pierre De Coubertin (founding father of the modern Olympic Movement and the IOC . . . and legendary misogynist) would be appalled by what he'd see today," she said laughing, referring to the ever-increasing number of women getting involved in sport. "But, even in his time, he realised the world was passing him by when he conceded there was no point trying to stop women competing in the pentathlon. `Why not?' he said. `They're doing everything else I object to'."

On Saturday afternoon, Michelle de Bruin, who was accompanied to the conference by her husband Erik, spoke about her position as a role model in Ireland since her Olympic success. She said that one of the most pleasing aspects of her Atlanta success was that it had encouraged young Irish girls to believe that they too could succeed at that level of sport.

"When I was a young girl, 10 or 15 years ago, there weren't that many women in sport, even in the political world. You had people like Thatcher but, apart from her, there weren't many - so I would have looked at someone like her as a role model."

Asked by a delegate whether she would consider a role in sports administration in the future, she replied: "Maybe . . . when Pat decides to retire". Thunderous applause. "Seeing as everyone else is after my scalp, you might as well have it," responded Pat (Hickey, President of the Irish Olympic Council).

"I would like to get involved in sports administration in some way, shape or form - where it's going to be, I don't know," de Bruin continued. "But I think I have so much experience as an athlete that it could be beneficial to people in some way - an athlete brings with them a different point of view to someone who hasn't competed."

"I would like to think that Michelle would have a very serious role in administration in sport in Ireland in the future," said Hickey. "As we all know in sport, it doesn't necessarily follow that an athlete who wins a gold medal makes a good administrator or coach, it can often be the opposite.

"But I think we've seen from Michelle's personality, the way she's presented herself, she's a very intelligent woman, that she has a great future - not only in the OCI, but I think the Government should also use her much more than they are now. She's a tremendous role model for the children of this country."