Five 2012 Olympic Ladies You Should Know About:

• Olympic Weightlifter Zoe Smith Shuts Down Sexist Tweets About Female Athletes’ ‘Manly’ Bodies [x]

We, as any women with an ounce of self-confidence would, prefer our men to be confident enough in themselves to not feel emasculated by the fact that we aren’t weak and feeble.

• Afghani female sprinter, Tahmina Kohistani, resists country’s old ideals, vows to show women new future [x]

My feeling is different because I’m going to do something for my country. I like to change the society, to change the mind of people about [women] and they should accept this. We are not wrong. We are right.

• After years of keeping her sport a secret from her parents, Sarah Menezes wins judo gold for Brazil. [x]

In the beginning, they used to say judo was not a girl’s sport. Then, they would complain that being an athlete was a not a proper career. I would go to my training sessions anyway, sometimes saying I had to stay longer at school, sometimes asking the neighbour to take me secretly.

• When Nur Suryani Mohamed Taibi makes her Olympic debut in the 10- metre air rifle event, she will be the first woman to represent Malaysia in Olympic shooting and eight months pregnant. [x]

Every morning I talk to her and I say: ‘Mummy is going for training. Please remain calm. Don’t kick.’ But if the baby kicks I have to breathe easy and let her calm down before shooting.

• Less than a month away from the London Games, U.S. women’s soccer standout Megan Rapinoe says publicly for the first time that she is gay. [x]

To be honest I’ve been thinking about it for a while, trying to find a time that works, now leading up to the Olympics, people want to get personal stories. Our team in general is in a position where people look up to us and kids look up to us. I embrace that and I think I have a huge LGBT following. I think it’s pretty cool, the opportunity that I have, especially in sports. There’s really not that many out athletes. It’s important to be out and to live my life that way.

(Source: abarero, via revolutionaren)