Hello & a Huge Welcome to the WSU.
My name is Sharron Davies. I’m an Olympic swimmer who competed in three Olympic Games in three different decades. I’ve won medals at all major internationals, including the Olympics and then spent the next 35 years poolside as a sports journalist, working in the media. I haven’t missed an Olympic Games since 1976. I competed at my first international when I was 11, my last at 31.
I’ve been in or around elite women’s sport for over 50 years. At the height of my career, I was forced to compete repeatedly against testosterone-fueled East Germans, who all of my silver and bronze medals were behind. For over twenty years, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) did nothing to stop this gross injustice and a whole generation of young women, across the world, lost out on life-changing medal opportunities because of cheating. As well as those young East German girls being so badly used, abused and neglected.
This gross injustice meant that in recent years, when males were allowed to compete unfairly and often unsafely against females, from as far back as 2015, I felt I could not remain silent and watch yet another generation of worthy women lose out. So I chose to speak. It’s been ten years now of activism, and in the very early days, I was almost alone with my voice.
It has been a long and hard battle. But we are winning. There are now many groups of brave and brilliant women (and men, of course) prepared to break cover and fight for female rights. But there has not been a mechanism to better protect those rights, hence I wanted to form the Women’s Sports Union.
So, here we are…hopefully with your help, forming a powerful coalition of sports enthusiasts who believe that fairness has to be the cornerstone of sport, that going forward, female participation cannot be relegated to being less important than male participation.
Tracy embarked on her first Whitbread Round the World Race 1985-86 at the age of 21, as the first girl to ever race around the world on a Maxi when she joined "Atlantic Privateer" as cook.
She won international fame in 1990 as the founder/skipper of the first all-woman crew to sail around the world when they raced in the 1989/90 Whitbread Round the World Race. This was an unprecedented moment in women’s sport. Surviving icebergs, food shortages and sub-zero conditions, Tracy led her pioneering all-female crew to a hard earned second place. Their courage, strength and determination inspired thousands and made their vessel, Maiden, one of the most iconic yachts in the world. Maiden has since opened the door for a generation of female sailors, forever changing the world of sailing.
Tracy was awarded an MBE and became the first woman in its 34 year history to be awarded the Yachtsman of the Year Trophy. She paved the way for other women to follow.
In 1998 she founded/skippered the first all-female crew to attempt the Jules Verne non-stop round the world record. They were on course for the record but were dismasted off Cape Horn. They jury-rigged the yacht and made it to Chile without assistance. During their attempt the team broke 7 world records.
In 2000/01 Tracy created and managed the world’s first mixed sex professional record-breaking crew with Maiden II. The team broke, among others, the 24 hour record which became the fastest record in the world.
In 2014 Maiden was found rotting in the Seychelles and so Tracy raised the funds to rescue her and bring her home, restoring her to her former glory. The Maiden Factor was set up to raise funds and awareness for the education of 130 million girls worldwide who are currently denied this basic right. In November 2018, this iconic piece of British Maritime History, embarked on a six-year, 60,000 nm world tour. Maiden became a Global Ambassador for the Empowerment of Girls through Education.
Tracy’s book ‘Living Every Second’ was published in 2000. The film ‘Maiden’ premiered in 2019 to critical acclaim and was shortlisted for a BAFTA and an Academy Award.
In September 2023, Maiden set off on her final race around the world with the most diverse professional racing crew ever. In February 2024 Maiden carried the first three black female crew and first Afghan, to ever sail around Cape Horn. In April 2024, Maiden became the first all-female crew to win an around the world race and guaranteed her place forever in the yachting hall of fame.
Tracy currently runs The Maiden Factor Foundation with the focus on getting girls into education with the ultimate aim of financial autonomy and is also a Motivational Speaker.
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