Women's Sport Developing Much Faster, Claims Bentele

Women's sport is growing at a faster rate then men's and becoming more competitive by the year according to multi-Paralympic Winter Games gold medalist Verena Bentele.

Speaking to www.paralympic.org, the International Paralympic Committee's website in the lead up to United Nations International Women's Day on Tuesday 8 March, the 28 year old visually impaired German skier said she was delighted to see not only a greater quantity of women now practicing sport but also a greater quality.

"I am convinced that sport for women has become more and more ambitious and that the level of competition has risen," said Bentele who recently picked up a Laureus World Sports Award to mark her achievement in winning five gold medals at the Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Winter Games.

"This has been the same for men's sport, but I think the development of women's sport has been much faster. I also think that women's sport is being taken more seriously now.

"In Paralympic Sport there has been a huge development in the past 10 to 15 years. The starting fields have grown and the competition has become tougher.

"My personal opinion is that previously women in sport were often reduced to their looks and the focus was not on their sporting talent. There has definitely been a change and a very positive one at that," she added.

Although Bentel is pleased that women's sport is heading in the right direction, she believes many challenges still lie ahead, in particular in the area of coaching.

"There is definitely a challenge that you have to stand your ground with male functionaries and coaches," she said.

"Although more women are becoming coaches it is still dominated by men. This means that women have a different standing and I have experienced it myself. It is a challenge to stand your grounds and ask for your rights."

Having competed at the very elite level of Paralympic Sport and won nearly every medal and award available, Bentele is a role model for all women aspiring to get into sport. Her advice to others is pretty straight forward.

"Look for a sport where you have some talent, that you have fun practicing and look for people that can support you, be it your coach, your friends or your family.

"With that support try to reach the goals you set yourself. That has always helped me, for example when I has problems with male coaches, I looked for the support somewhere else."

-ends-

Notes to the Editor:

The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) is the global governing body of the Paralympic Movement. The IPC organizes the Summer and Winter Paralympic Games, and serves as the International Federation for nine sports, for which it supervises and co-ordinates the World Championships and other competitions. The IPC is committed to enabling Paralympic athletes to achieve sporting excellence and to developing sport opportunities for all persons with a disability from the beginner to elite level. In addition, the IPC aims to promote the Paralympic values, which include courage, determination, inspiration and equality.

Founded on 22 September 1989, the IPC is an international non-profit organization formed and run by 167 National Paralympic Committees (NPCs) from five regions and four disability specific international sports federations (IOSDs). The IPC Headquarters and its management team are located in Bonn, Germany.

For further information, please contact Craig Spence, IPC Media and Communications Senior Manager on e-mail: craig.spence@paralympic.org or call +49-228-2097-230. Alternatively, please visit www.paralympic.org or www.ParalympicSport.TV

As a service to our readers, Around the Rings will provide verbatim texts of selected press releases issued by Olympic-related organizations, federations, businesses and sponsors.

These press releases appear as sent to Around the Rings and are not edited for spelling, grammar or punctuation.