There’s a saying that goes something along the lines of this: Behind every great woman is an even better man who is the actual source of all their achievements and success — Olympic medals included.
OK, so we lied: that’s not actually a saying. Because the reality is, behind every great woman’s Olympic medal is the guts, determination and sheer amount of hours and days she has put in to wear that accolade.
Despite this fairly straightforward notion, Olympic commentators are seemingly struggling to understand that women can win things without the men in their life being the sole reason for their success.
In last the 24 hours, Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu and America’s Corey Cogdell-Unrein both won Olympic medals in their respective sports.
Hosszu won gold and shattered the world record in the 400 metre individual medley. Cogdell-Unrein her second bronze medal in women’s trap shooting.
Yet when Katinka Hosszu touched the wall in Rio, breaking a world record and winning gold, the camera panned to the crowd and found her overjoyed husband Shane Tusup, who also happens to be her coach.
Undoubtedly, Tusup has played a significant role in Hosszu’s training and preparation. Yet NBC’s commentator Dan Hicks gave him all the credit, informing viewers Tusup was “the guy responsible” for both her performance and her turnaround as a swimmer.
Just hours later, Cogdell-Unrein was awarded bronze — and The Chicago Tribune back home was obviously a little tickled that its fellow country-woman was successful in her sport.
However, the newspaper was seemingly a little more impressed that she was a wife first.
This was the Tribune’s headline: ‘Corey Cogdell, wife of Bears lineman Mitch Unrein, wins bronze in Rio.’
“This is Cogdell-Unrein’s third Olympic games, but Unrein, a defensive end in his second season with the Bears, was unable to get away from training camp to join her in Rio and see her in the Olympics for the first time,” the article continued. (Post continues after gallery.)
Australian women to look out for at the Rio Olympics.
“The Bears open their preseason schedule Thursday against the Broncos at Soldier Field.”
As you might imagine, that didn’t go down too well on social media.
As Corey Cogdell experienced one oft he greatest highs of her career, local news couldn’t help putting her in context, assuming two Olympic bronze medals didn’t hold steady as a feat in and of itself.
In Hosszu’s case, her performance evidently wasn’t enough — no matter how strong her strokes were, no matter how steely her focus, her coach and her husband was the bedrock of her success.
Because a woman in sport couldn’t possibly do it on her own, right?
Watch: Women confess the times they wish they were a man… like when trying to claim credit for their own Olympic medals. Post continues after video.