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WSFF Celebrates 25 Years in Women's Sport
Dame Kelly Holmes DBE has taken the title of Britain's favourite sportswoman followed by Paula Radcliffe and fellow Olympic gold medallist Sally Gunnell. That's according to *research by the Women's Sport and Fitness Foundation (WSFF) to mark its 25th birthday and the launch of its new report which tracks a quarter century of records from women's sport and the hurdles which still need to be tackled.
Going back to its start line in 1984, Celebrating Silver, Going for Gold reveals a strong line-up of milestones from WSFF's history and women's sport. Amongst them are women being able to compete in an Olympic marathon for the first time in 1984, equal pay awarded to men and women at Wimbledon from 2007 and more recently, some of women's England cricket and football international players receiving central contracts -- allowing them to play as paid professionals for the first time.
Successes from the track and field are also celebrated in the report but in terms of what the nation feels is the most iconic moment from women's sport, frozen in time is the memory of Torvill and Dean's 'Bolero' from 1984. Hot on its heals is Kelly's double gold and Ellen MacArthur's record breaking solo circumnavigation of the globe.
Sue Tibballs, Chief Executive of WSFF says: "There's so much to cheer about from the last 25 years of women's sport, both on and off the field. It was the same year that Torvill and Dean produced perfect scores at the Winter Olympics that WSFF was born, and it's been great looking back at all the strides that have since been taken.
"Although this year we are celebrating silver with our 25th birthday, WSFF continues to work towards a gold standard for women's sport - there's still some way to go. We want to see more money being invested, more women playing senior roles and more media coverage."
-ENDS-
For more information, including interview requests, please contact:
Rebecca Hargreaves at Lexis Public Relations on 020 7908 6442 / [email protected]
Louise Hicks at Lexis Public Relations on 020 7908 6466 / [email protected]
Harriet Foxwell at WSFF on 020 7273 1744 / [email protected]
Notes to editors
*Research: Over 2000 UK people were polled. WSFF commissioned Havas Sports Insight to design the Omnibus research, with Research Now conducting the fieldwork.
UK's favourite British sportswoman of the past 25 years:
1. Dame Kelly Holmes
2. Paula Radcliffe
3. Sally Gunnell
4. Jayne Torvill
5. Ellen McArthur and Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson
7. Denise Lewis
8. Rebecca Adlington
9. Tessa Sanderson
10. Zara Phillips
UK's most iconic moment in British women's sport in the last 25 years:
1. 1984 - Torvill and Dean shock the world with their perfect 'Bolero' in ice dancing
2. 2004 -- Kelly Holmes wins gold in the 800m and 1500m at Athens Olympics
3. 2005 -- Ellen MacArthur sails into history books breaking the world record for fastest solo circumnavigation of the globe
4. 2008 -- Rebecca Adlington wins double gold in the pool at the Beijing Olympics
5. 2003 -- In the London Marathon Paula Radcliffe breaks the world record by nearly two minutes
6. 2008 -- Paralympic swimmer and youngest team member at 13 years old, Eleanor Simmonds wins two golds 7. 2008 -- Britain's women cyclists rule the world as Nicole Cooke takes road racing gold and Victoria Pendleton and Rebecca Romero take gold on the track at the Beijing Olympics
8. 2009 -- England women's cricket team win the World Cup in Australia and then the Twenty20 World Cup on home soil
9. 1992 -- Sally Gunnell wins gold in 400m hurdles and helps Britain win bronze in 4x400m relay at Barcelona Olympics
10. 1984 -- Britain's women enjoy success in the Olympic javelin with Tessa Sanderson winning gold and Fatima Whitbread winning bronze
About WSFF
The Women's Sport and Fitness Foundation (WSFF) is the charity that works to make physical activity an integral part of life for women and girls.
Today, 80% of women don't do enough physical activity to benefit their health, half of young women think it is more important to be thin than healthy and only 2% of newspaper sports coverage is dedicated to women's sport.
WSFF is working to change these statistics by:
• Providing consultancy support to help sport and fitness deliverers give the customer what she wants
• Working with the media and brands to foster a culture in which being active is attractive
• Persuading senior decision makers to use their influence and resources to help achieve our vision.
