A gaping gender gap in Winter Paralympic Games continues with Canada鈥檚 team reflecting that imbalance.
The International Paralympic Committee trumpeted a record number of women competing in Beijing, but 138 still represents just 24 per cent of 564 international athletes.
By comparison, 45 per cent of athletes competing in Beijing鈥檚 Winter Olympics were women.
Canada鈥檚 Paralympic team of 48, including guides, features 13 women for 27 per cent.
There were originally 14 women on the team, but a skier withdrew from women鈥檚 alpine racing because of injury.
Beijing鈥檚 10-day Paralympic Games opened Friday and close March 13.
Gender disparity wasn鈥檛 as pronounced in last summer鈥檚 Tokyo Paralympics with 42 per cent of participating athletes female.
Over half of Canada鈥檚 128 athletes in Tokyo were women with 71 accounting for 55 per cent of the team.
That鈥檚 due in part to Canada qualifying in three women鈥檚 team sports.
The elephant in the Winter Paralympic Games room is Para hockey, which was previously referred to as sledge hockey. It鈥檚 the only large-team sport and it鈥檚 male.
鈥淭here鈥檚 no question that the team sport and the team sport skewing is kind of a number one kind of challenge,鈥� Canadian Paralympic Committee president Karen O鈥橬eill told The Canadian Press from Beijing.
The IPC slapped a 鈥渕ixed鈥� label on Para hockey before the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver and Whistler, B.C.
But only three women 鈥� two Norwegians and one Chinese 鈥� have ever been on a Paralympic Games roster.
The host country鈥檚 Jing Yu is the lone woman on a Para hockey team in Beijing. Rosters are 17 players, but countries can bring an 18th if that player is a woman.
Canada is one of few countries alongside the United States and Britain with established national women鈥檚 Para hockey teams.
Women wanting to play Para hockey at its highest level 鈥� the Paralympic Games is their Stanley Cup 鈥� currently have to make a male roster.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 what鈥檚 being told to girls and women around the world is 鈥極K, let鈥檚 see you crack those top rosters and get there because that鈥檚 your only option,鈥欌�� said Tara Chisholm, who coaches the Canadian women鈥檚 para hockey team.
鈥淚 know our women who are watching the Paralympic Games this week are wishing they had the same opportunities that those men that they play with back home on their club teams are having this week.鈥�
While a women鈥檚 world Para hockey challenge is scheduled for this summer, more participating countries are needed for a legitimate world championship and thus entry into the Paralympic Games.
Chisholm doesn鈥檛 expect the latter to happen in time for the 2026 Winter Games in Milan and Cortina, Italy, with 2030 the better bet.
Andrea Bundon, an associate professor at the University of British Columbia, studies the Paralympic Games gender gap because of her experience guiding visually-impaired Para-Nordic skiers Courtney Knight (2010) in Whistler and Margarita Gorbounova (2014) in Sochi, Russia.
鈥淭hey had a strong preference for a female guide,鈥� Bundon said. 鈥淢any of the guides are men. The reason being is it鈥檚 kind of easier to find a man who is faster than you than to find a woman who is faster than you, but not herself racing.
鈥淚 believe I was one of two female guides in Sochi. We鈥檙e lining up at the start line, and despite this being a women鈥檚 event, there鈥檚 a lot of men on the start line.
鈥淭hat got us looking around more generally at who is at the Games? Why are we seeing so few women as athletes, as coaches, managers, wax technicians. Where are the women?鈥�
There are 39 medal events for men, 35 for women and four mixed events in Beijing鈥檚 Paralympic Games.
Introducing mixed gender events like relays doesn鈥檛 necessarily increase the number of women participating, Bundon said.
鈥淭hey create balance in the number of medals available to men and women, but they don鈥檛 create any more spots on the team,鈥� she explained. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e using athletes that are already there. You have the same female athlete with one more race.
鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 create incentive for the nations to develop more pathways for women or to support more women.鈥�
Domestically, the CPC runs a recruitment combine called Paralympian Search, similar to the Canadian Olympic Committee鈥檚 Training Ground, in which athletes from across the country are put through power, speed and endurance tests to match them with a sport.
鈥淲e realized many women and young girls were just not coming out,鈥� O鈥橬eill said.
A women鈥檚 pilot project in 2021, which was virtual because of the COVID-19 pandemic, drew over 30 applications, she said.
鈥淏ecause of the experience from that, and the numbers, we knew that we need to pursue this,鈥� O鈥橬eill said.
The IPC committed almost two decades ago to a goal of 30 per cent women in leadership positions.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e still not even close to that,鈥� Bundon said.
O鈥橬eill says there is more gender parity in technical roles such as coaching on the summer side than winter, but more work has to be done on that front overall.
鈥淲hen we look at the data and we look at some of the barriers, cultural and societal came up within the top three still,鈥� she said.
O鈥橬eill believes a successful Vancouver bid for the 2030 Winter Games would give Canada a role in accelerating women in the Winter Paralympic movement, particularly if women鈥檚 Para hockey is on the menu.
鈥淚 think something as focused as the 2030 bid to bring and shine a light on women in Paralympic sport, hosted by Canada, would be an incredible incentive to further close that gap, and use the runway of the next eight years to invest in the technical, the participation in some targeted areas, that I think would raise the bar and set a new standard,鈥� she said.
Donna Spencer, The Canadian Press
