Men, women… and ladies at the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics

PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics

Men, women… and ladies

I was checking out the various Olympic events on the official 2018 Winter Olympics website and happened to notice that, whereas males are always referred to as ‘men’, it’s not quite so simple when it comes to the females.
Of the 15 sports which make up the 2018 Winter Olympics, 5 refer to females as ‘ladies’ & 9 refer to them as ‘women’ (1 sport, Nordic combined, will first accept any female participation at the 2022 Winter Olympics).

Here’s the whole list:

sportwomen/ladies
Alpine skiingladies
Biathlonwomen
Bobsleighwomen
Cross-country skiingwomen
Curlingwomen
Figure skatingladies
Freestyle skiingwomen
Ice hockeywomen
Lugewomen
Nordic combinedn/a
Short track speed skatingwomen
Skeletonwomen
Ski jumpingladies
Snowboardingladies
Speed skatingladies

Why is this? Well… I haven’t the foggiest idea! Why would a female be a lady when she skates on a 400m track (speed skating), but ‘only’ a woman when she does the 111.111m track (short track speed skating)?

Gentlemen?

In case you wonder why males are always referred to as ‘men’ and never as ‘gentlemen’ (the male version of ‘ladies’): Well… we may have Sjinkie to ‘thank’ for that! 😉

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