The Winter Olympics are in full swing—and after decades of advocacy, the Games are closer than ever to gender parity in events, opportunities and visibility.
Editor’s note: Organizers of the 2026 Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics are touting “the most gender-balanced Olympic Winter Games in history,” reflecting years of pressure from athletes who have questioned why women and men do not always have the same number of events or chances to participate. Disparities remain across certain disciplines, with some women’s events still missing or limited.
Still, women’s progress is undeniable. These gains did not happen on their own—they are the result of sustained advocacy by women athletes who have pushed the International Olympic Committee to expand women’s participation, add events, and commit to gender equity in both athlete quotas and medal opportunities. Even as parity edges closer, competitors and supporters continue to call out the remaining gaps, keeping the pressure on Olympic leadership to deliver full equality across all sports.
Look What SHE Did! is a nonprofit filmmaking team that has produced hundreds of three- to four-minute films of women telling the stories of the trailblazing women who inspire them. In honor of the Olympics, we’ve curated four of our favorites below.
Marilyn King on Olga Fikotová-Connolly
She accelerated the cause of peace.
Olympian pentathlete Marilyn King details her admiration for Olga Fikotová-Connolly, an Olympic gold medal winner in discus who became an advocate for utilizing the Olympic Games to promote world peace.
King came to know Connolly at the 1972 Olympics in Munich, where Connelly drafted and submitted a petition to President Richard Nixon—signed by every American team—requesting that the bombing campaign in Vietnam be suspended during the Games. Connolly’s bravery and personal commitment inspired King to carry on the mission through her Olympian Peace Team, which works through the United Nations to promote peace throughout the world.
Julie Nichols on Bonnie Blair
No elite athlete starts out on top—it takes hard work, determination and persistence.
Julie Nichols, Olympic rowing champion, describes her reverence and respect for trailblazing speed skater, Bonnie Blair.
Inspired from a young age by Blair’s unrelenting pursuit of excellence, Nichols watched as Blair returned to four Olympics, each time besting her own performance from previous games. Blair was the first woman to medal in the 500-meter race at three consecutive Olympics, and the first woman to win five Olympic gold medals.
The parallels between speed skating and rowing—the need for speed and strength—were not lost on Nichols, as she pursued her own athletic career, eventually competing on the USA Rowing team at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, England.
Stephanie Brown Trafton on Mary Lou Retton
Olympic gold medal champion Stephanie Brown Trafton describes how watching Mary Lou Retton at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles inspired her to dream of becoming a world-class athlete.
Retton’s performance captivated people throughout the world—she was the first American woman to win both an individual gold medal, as well as the all-around gold in gymnastics.
That same year, Trafton, just 4 years old, suffered a traumatic personal loss. It was in the wake of this loss that Trafton’s imagination was captured—as she watched Retton perform the seed was planted and Trafton soon set out on an Olympic course of her own.
Mary Osborne Andrews on Mildred “Babe” Didrikson Zaharias
U.S. Olympic javelin thrower Mary Osborne Andrews shines a light on a fellow Olympian and pioneer who inspired her to “play big”: Mildred “Babe” Didrikson Zaharias.
Zaharias was one of the most accomplished all-around female athletes of her time, excelling in every sport she tried throughout her lifetime, including baseball, basketball, track and field, and golf. An Olympic gold and silver medalist and championship golfer who was named by ESPN as the 10th Greatest North American Athlete of the 20th Century, Zaharias’ story is really about the drive to compete, to honor one’s gift, to be the best and to never give up.
Andrews takes us through Zaharias’ trailblazing career in sports that led to the Olympics and the founding of the LPGA and discusses the parallels to her own quest to become an Olympic track and field champion.
Much of this post was originally published by Look What SHE Did! The videos and descriptions have been republished with permission. Explore the nonprofit’s entire film collection, plus some other short films previously curated at Ms.
