On Role Models, Possibilities, and Equality

Outside of my endurance sport life, I’m a professor of Communication Studies at Rowan University, in Glassboro, NJ. (Read: Nerd.) In my research and teaching, I examine how communication creates meaning about “things” – people, places, objects, events, ideas.

I know what you are probably thinking: things exist, that can’t be changed no matter how we communicate or think about them. Of course people, places, and objects exist, and events happen. But, how we communicate about these things affects our interpretation of them–regardless of their tangible properties.

So, let’s say we’ve got this thing that is a 2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile bike, and a 26.2 mile run. How we think and talk about a triathlon affects the meaning we have for it, which in turn affects our behavior.

It begins with the name. Do we call it an ultra or full distance triathlon, an Ironman, or a really long day?

50womentokona
In 2012, a key goal for my performance at the Rev3 (now Challenge) Quassy 70.3 was to finish early enough that I could meet Mirinda Carfrae – one of my favorite professional triathletes. Mission Accomplished! I have an inch on her with the Don King-style hair.

If we define an Ironman as crazy or impossible, we won’t attempt it. Alternatively, we might define an Ironman as empowering or fun. Each interpretation will lead to a different decision about whether we quit before we start, or we dream big and go for it.

So what gives with the theory lesson? Well, like all good theories, the theory of Symbolic Interaction (which I’ve been laying out generally here) helps explain stuff. For the purposes of this post, I want to talk about role models and their value in sport.

Role models help us construct meaning about things, like a triathlon. We observe what they do; we listen to what they say. Through this communication, we shape the realm of the possible for ourselves.

Our role models give meaning to the mantra that anything is possible if we believe it and we work for it. Role models don’t promise us that making our dreams come true will be easy – far from it. They show us, with their hard work, determination and grit, that the extraordinary can be ours if we step out of our ordinary routines and go for that extra. 

Through the years that I’ve done triathlons, various people–some strangers, some friends–have helped shape my ideas about what is possible, by encouraging me to set big goals and to give everything I’ve got in the pursuit of those goals.

While I didn’t necessarily realize it at the time, my seemingly impossible dream about a slot on the big island began to take shape In October, 2009. I watched the stream of the Ironman World Championships as a petite professional triathlete ran her way into second place with one of the most amazing runs I had ever seen. It was her first Ironman ever, and her first marathon ever.

I was immediately in awe.

While Mirinda Carfrae’s run was kinetic beauty, she has inspired me beyond that. Through the years, I’ve felt somewhat shadowed (pun intended) by the taller female competitors. But, “Rinny” has shown me – year after year after year – that little bits can play too; little bits can be fierce scrappers.

When Rinny set the course record in 2013, a person, let’s call her Sally, said to me, “Until I saw Carfrae cross that finish line as tiny but as fast as she is, I didn’t think you could beat the bigger women in your age group.”

Despite the sting of that observation (ouch!), this example demonstrates how communication creates meaning. Before Sally saw Rinny, she had a particular understanding about the type of person (body) who could reach the podium in Ironman. After seeing the 2013 Ironman World Championships, Sally came to understand the possible in different ways.

50womentokona
Image from http://firstoffthebike.com/news-and-features/tweets-50womentokona/.

Of course, Rinny is not the only triathlete that inspires me. I’ve watched (and re-watched) with rapt attention the many years of Ironman highlight videos, taking inspiration from Natascha Badmann’s fantastic smile and overall badassery, Karen Smyers astonishing come from behind victory over Paula Newby Fraser (Don’t stop believing!), and Chrissie Wellington’s general BEASTINESS.

A key highlight of my 2014 Ironman Kona experience was getting a high-five from Wellington somewhere around mile 9 of the run.

She exclaimed, “Great form! You are doing great!” It’s very hard not to puff up like a gigantic peacock when one of the queens of triathlon tells you that you look good. In fact, it is impossible.

Our identification with and admiration for role models allows us to create meaning for what is possible for ourselves, to believe that we might also achieve extraordinary goals, to take inspiration from their courage and strength.

But, it’s not just the well-known names of triathlon that provide inspiration. The women who are working their way to the top provide some of the most inspirational stories. I’ve had the opportunity to meet some of these women, as they moved from their age group into the professional ranks.

While the sheer speed of these women is inspirational, I’m more impressed by their courage to commit to their passion in a professional career where the opportunities are uneven and uncertain. Yet, they pursue their goals and dreams, despite the challenges, despite the difficulties–or very likely also because of those challenges. That’s some inspiring stuff.

50womentokona
Alyssa Godesky, featured left in this image.

After racing the Bone Island half-distance triathlon in 2013, John and I met the second place overall finisher Alyssa Godesky. While she raced that year as an amateur, she began her career as a professional triathlete in 2014. I read her blog post when she announced she was going pro, and I was inspired by her bravery to follow her dreams.

I also have Alyssa to thank for a 100 x 100 swim workout, which John and I found on her blog and then did on New Year’s Day this year. Thank or curse – I forget which one ;).

In 2013, I raced the Bassman half and Ironman Lake Placid with Amy Javens, who placed second overall at Bassman and then second in our age group (40-44) at Lake Placid. Later that year, Amy officially become a professional triathlete.

When I raced Ironman Louisville in 2014, Amy raced her heart out to make the professional women’s podium. I was so happy to be there as she took her award, to see her inspiring power and strength for all of us 40-somethings. Too often, people think being 40-something is the end of our physical strength and speed. But, then there are people like Amy – redefining our conceptions of age not as an obstacle, but as an opportunity.

50 women to kona
Amy Javens, featured far left, at Bassman in 2013.

This year, at Ironman Coeur d’Alene, I was awed by the stellar performance of Maggie Rusch, who finished as the first place amateur female – a finish that would earn her status as a professional triathlete. Maggie is tough. She debuted in Kona in 2013 as an age grouper, leaving it all out on the course, and finding herself in the hospital after. She embodies the spirit of grit and determination that many of us find so inspirational in our role models. I know Maggie through Twitter, where she’s always supported me with encouragement and kind words.

Maggie is also a staunch advocate in the 50 Women to Kona movement, contributing to the ongoing discussions about social justice, fairness and equality in triathlon. For those of you who may not have heard of it yet, the 50 Women to Kona movement includes thousands (by the Facebook page count) of male and female triathletes – professional and amateur – united in the quest to achieve equal slot distribution for the professional triathletes at the Ironman World Championships. Right now, the male professionals have 50 slots, while the female professionals have only 35 slots.

Professional female triathletes are an important part of the meaning we give to triathlon. They provide inspiration for aspiring potential female pros, for age groupers like me, and for young girls wondering what the possibilities are for the paths of their lives. Furthermore, equality at the World Championships creates an important meaning about the sport, a meaning about the value of all competitors.

While it is but one race, the Kona World Championship is “the” race that may singularly define triathlon, given all of the media coverage and attention. This race creates meaning for many who are just starting to consider the sport, and for many of us who want to be competitive in the sport. How many of you reading this post decided you wanted to get into triathlon because you saw a Kona highlight show when you were younger?

Ironman – the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC) – has expressed a desire to increase female participation in triathlon. In a sport with low female participant rates, I wholeheartedly support those efforts. But, efforts to increase female participation should include a consideration of both professional and amateur participation.

In a news release posted on April 1st, WTC confirmed their decision to keep the 50/35 slot allocation for the 2015 season. Their reason? Fairness. The article explains:

The goal of the Kona qualifying system is to ensure that age groupers, regardless of gender or age, have a roughly equivalent path to Kona. In this spirit, arbitrarily increasing Kona representation of females or specific age groups would be unfair since the additional slots would come at others expense. It would also create a separate, lower standard of performance for the arbitrarily advantaged group, which is antithetical to the spirit of IRONMAN.

WTC argues that because age group slots are allocated based on participation rates, so should the pro slots in order to be fair to the “spirit of Ironman.” However, there is no mechanism in place to re-distribute the female professional slots based on participation, as there is with the age group allocations.

More problematically, there is also no explanation of how WTC arrived at the 50/35 distribution in the first place. The use of the word “arbitrarily” is ironic in this sense.

By WTC’s count, Ironman gives away 2% of the World Championship slots to participants who 1) have not qualified, 2) have not gained entry via the lottery, or 3) have not gained entry via the legacy program.

WTC creates meaning for “fairness” and “equality” using numbers based on participation rates. However, there are other numbers to consider as well.

lolcatThe 2014 World Championships had 2,187 entrants (based on the results page). Fifteen additional female slots are 0.6% of that total. By contrast, 2% of that total is 43 slots. We know that at least some of these 43 slots go to celebrities and sponsors.

So consider this: Gordon Ramsay gets a celebrity slot in both 2013 and 2014, but a professional female triathlete whose participation in Kona could make or break her sponsorship deals for the next year has to sit the race out.

Fairness. Okay. Apparently, I have created a different meaning for the word fairness than that maintained by the WTC.

The justification from WTC further argues that increasing the slot allocation for female professionals would encourage a lower standard of performance. I wonder, where is the concern for low standards of performance when they give entry to high profile celebrities and sponsorship slots to people who have not earned that place on the big island?

Apparently, poorly-performing females aren’t a concern for the Olympics or the International Triathlon Union (ITU) world championships.

From the FAQ on the ITU page regarding qualification and slot allocations.
From the FAQ on the ITU page regarding qualification and slot allocations in their professional series.

Having equal representation at the top end of the sport communicates an important symbolic message about the worth of ALL athletes regardless of sex. A shift of 0.6% of the slots to make a strong symbolic stand for equality seems to be a fairly easy decision to make. But, the recent announcement indicates it’s not as easy as I thought.

Once synonymous with empowerment and extraordinary experiences, I now have a different meaning for the Ironman brand, and one that is in conflict with my values as they relate to social justice.  As a private business, Ironman gets to make the decisions they want; they certainly don’t need to care about my personal ethics or values. However, consumers also make the decisions they want. Unless the WTC changes their policy and communicates a value for equality and fairness, my decision about where I spend my race dollars will be very easy to make.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Additional information about #50WomenToKona:

Comments are closed.