OVER 20,000 Signatures
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Wow...That's all I can say. Over 20k of you have decided to take a moment and add your voice to make a difference for women in sports, and that is truly amazing.
Have you ever tried to Google, "One Place 20,000 People"? Spoiler alert- it is a HUGE crowd <3
These past few months have overwhelmed me and many others with the amount of support you all have given to this cause. From individuals wanting to take a stand for equality to high caliber news publications wanting to spread the word; it has been incredible to say the least.
Especially in the past couple of weeks, the number of young women from literally around the world who have messaged me to tell me how much they would love to have the opportunity to do a Decathlon one day is astounding. Our dream is that one day we can all have the opportunity to compete in one and not be held out simply because we are girls. With your continued help, I truly believe we will get there.
The Decathlon crowns the, "World's Greatest Athlete" and it truly blesses my heart to know that there is some young girl out there- who might not even know it yet, but she will get to go compete for that title because of all the work we are doing.
When there is a female, Olympic-Gold-Medalist Decathlete one day, she probably will not get to thank all of you for helping create this opportunity for her- so let me take the time to let you all know in advance so you can remember it when you watch history being made one day-
T H A N K Y O U!!
P.S. There is a Women's Decathlon happening in the USA out in California next month and you can find the details in the link provided. :)
New York times “An Olympic Hurdle: Why Is the Decathlon Only for Men?”
Check out the amazing New York Times article featuring the Let Women Decathlon movement.
Telemundo: Battle to let women decathletes compete in the 2024 Olympics
Batalla para que mujeres decatletas compitan en las Olimpiadas 2024.
Jordan Gray forma parte de la campaña “Let Women Decathlete” en la que están recibiendo firmas para que las mujeres participen en el Decatlón de las Olimpiadas del 2024.
McAllen’s Jordan Gray champions women’s inclusion in Olympic decathlon
Decathlete Jordan Gray of McAllen is fighting for women’s participation in the Olympic decathlon.
McALLEN – Jordan Gray has never taken too kindly to being told she cannot do something.
When she was just a year old, she indicated to her dad that she wanted to try the pull-up bar after watching him work out. He lifted her up so her tiny hands could grip the bar and said, “I bet you can’t do a pull-up.”
“He said I started gritting my teeth, straining, turning purple, trying to pull myself up,” Gray said. “It’s my personality. I’ve just always been that way. The ‘you can’t do this’ statement has always been a trigger for me.”
Gray, 25, trains in the decathlon — a track and field event that combines 10 other events, all runs, jumps and throws — making it one of the most challenging endeavors in athletics. Although a latecomer to the sport, it is safe to say she is one of the elite decathletes in the world.
She holds the highest score of any woman currently active. She set the American record and has produced the third highest score ever recorded in women’s decathlon. She has even set a world record in the long jump, a decathlon event.
One might expect to see her compete in the decathlon for Team USA in this summer’s Olympic Games in Tokyo. But that will not happen. Why?
“I’m a girl,” she said.
Click to see the rest of this awesome and in-depth article in the Brownsville Herald.
17K?
Jordan Gray’s update from change.org as we pass 17,000 petition signatures.
Can I say that? 17k? We're at 16,990 signatures! I'm sure by the time this goes out we'll have gotten 10 more ;)
Our 10k-15k dedicated to the young women who are coming after us was a huge success. There is still a lot of work ahead, but 5k of you signed in their honor and we could not be more thankful. <3
I'm continuously asked what the "magic number" is for the petition to reach before the Women's Decathlon can be added to the Olympics is- let me tell you, there is no magic number.
But the petition is doing its job!
It has created enough noise that governing bodies have gotten involved in the conversation!
It has opened chair member's eyes to the quantity of people willing to stand behind this movement.
It has shared with the (literal) world that this is a problem.
It has given people something they can do to help.
It has given news outlets a specific movement to report on.
And so much more!
It has gained over 350 signatures a day since its launch! And this is all thanks to people like you! Thank you for continuing to share with your friends, family, coworkers, social outlets, etc.
The more we talk-> the more we sign-> the more we create change!
A female World's Greatest Athlete is coming! And they will have all 17k of you cheering for them! Wow!
God bless
More than an Athlete - #letWomenDecathlon on NBC
As over 8,000 people have joined the cause, KVEO helps explain the unfairness we’re trying to correct with the Let Women Decathlon movement. We also had a nice post from Atlanta 100.
We are officially over 6,000 signatures to Let Women Decathlon!
As the petition is shared more and more, I can hardly even write this fast enough before it hits 7,000! What an awesome problem to have.
The wildfire of the issue continues to spread with the continued help of people like you:
· The ones who hear of the issue and decide to take action.
· The ones who have daughters, sisters, and other women in their life that do sports whom they wish to inspire and encourage.
· The ones who may not be involved in athletics at all but who believe women are capable of anything they set their minds to and decide to empower them through signing.
· The ones who have a circle of friends, family, coworkers and beyond (no matter how big the circle is) and share the news.
· The ones who know what it’s like to be discriminated against because of their demographic and have true empathy and passion for supporting others in similar situations.
It is incredible the amount of support this movement has been gaining.
As the petition is shared more and more, I can hardly even write this fast enough before it hits 7,000! What an awesome problem to have.
The wildfire of the issue continues to spread with the continued help of people like you:
· The ones who hear of the issue and decide to take action.
· The ones who have daughters, sisters, and other women in their life that do sports whom they wish to inspire and encourage.
· The ones who may not be involved in athletics at all but who believe women are capable of anything they set their minds to and decide to empower them through signing.
· The ones who have a circle of friends, family, coworkers and beyond (no matter how big the circle is) and share the news.
· The ones who know what it’s like to be discriminated against because of their demographic and have true empathy and passion for supporting others in similar situations.
It is because of the over 6,000 of you that we can continue to create change. We female decathletes may train day in and day out. We may break records. We may cry out in frustration. We may continue to do what we love despite the lack of opportunity.
But how could we create this kind of wake in our world if it weren’t for those like you who stand behind us and believe in us?
From the bottom of my heart, the hearts of other current female decathletes, and the hearts of future generations of young girls who will have opportunities never possible without your help,
THANK YOU.
Once we have finished this race I hope you will continuously feel the pride that you literally helped changed the world and the future lives of so many.
We will continue the fight. We will create change. We will have a world where we no longer have to tell young girls, “No. You can’t do that. It’s only for the boys.”
-Jordan Gray
Let Women Decathlon
Let Women Decathlon on Keep The Flame Alive Podcast
Check out Jordan discussing the details of the decathlon with Alison Brown and Jill Jaracz, and why it’s unfair that women aren’t allowed to do compete.
Check out Jordan discussing the details of the decathlon with Alison Brown and Jill Jaracz, and why it’s unfair that women aren’t allowed to do compete.
Around the Rings: U.S. Athlete Aims For Gender Equality
U.S. Athlete Jordan Gray Aims For Gender Equality with Let Women Decathlon.
By Greer Wilson, Around the Rings
Jordan Gray owns the U.S. record in the women's decathlon. But she can't compete at the Olympics because the event is not part of the Games.
So the native of Ball Ground, Georgia has launched “Let Women Decathlon,” a campaign petitioning the IOC to include women’s decathlon in the Paris 2024 sports program.
The effort began on February 3 to coincide with the 35th National Girls & Women In Sports Day.
At last check, the petition has collected over 3,800 signatures as the campaign continues to gain momentum.
In 2019, Gray obtained 7,921 points in a USATF affiliated decathlon. After breaking the American record, Gray says she was driven to create the campaign after meeting female athletes in decathlon who have fought for decades to be included in the Olympic program.
"Having that kind of platform, and meeting all these women I was like wow this is something that is truly wanted in the world in the track and field community I started pushing more to be a voice,” Gray tells Around the Rings.
Advertising agency Luckie joined the campaign after learning from Gray that women were not permitted to compete.
“We really just dove on it. It became a different mission. It's 2021 and that's completely unfair. We decided to help her create videos, social posts and create the website to help change this.” says Luckie Chief Creative Officer Mitch Bennett.
Since 1912, the IOC has only permitted men to participate in Olympic decathlon citing women’s bodies as incapable of handling the competition. In 1964, the pentathlon was added in Tokyo for women to compete before being replaced by the heptathlon for Los Angeles 1984. Women still do not compete in three of the events that make up the decathlon: 400m, pole vault and discus.
The IOC confirmed its official program for Paris 2024 last December but Gray says she's undeterred in her fight to end gender discrimination in Olympic sport.
“I hope that they [The IOC] will be willing to do a revision after seeing all of the work we put into it after it gets picked up by hopefully a few different corporations. Even if it doesn’t get picked up for 2024, at least it will make enough noise, enough people will know about it and sign the petition to be included for the 2028 Games,” Gray tells ATR.
In addition to this campaign, Gray is training for the rescheduled Olympic trials in heptathlon. Gray must qualify at the Olympic trials in order to participate for Team USA in decathlon at the Thorpe Cup. The event pits the United States against Germany in a team event in decathlon and heptathlon.
“I spoke with them last year about potentially letting me do a decathlon at that event. The Germans were all for it, eventually the U.S. side grabbed on to it as well," says Gray.
"That would give Thorpe Cup incredible bragging rights where they had the first international competition where they allowed a woman to do the decathlon. I can’t qualify in that event, unless I go to Olympic trials and do well enough in the heptathlon to even be taken.
"My goal isn’t Tokyo this year it’s just qualifying for that event.” adds Gray.
From Around the Rings
Inside the Games: Campaign to include women's decathlon at Paris 2024 launched by US athlete
Check out Inside The Games great story about Let Women Decathlon.
Ready... Set... Let Women Decathlon!
Ready… Set… Let Women Decathlon!
FEB 5, 2021 —
We are over 2,000 signatures in two days! ✍️🤩
Thanks for all you have done to help make a change to end gender inequality in the Olympics. We are going to continue to push this everywhere and thank you to all who have done so much sharing so far! Let's keep spreading the word and show the IOC that women are capable, we are here, and we are ready!
#LetWomenDecathlon