As recently as last week, comments from high profile media personalities questioned the relevance, financial backing and quality of women’s sport.
But then, on Sunday, a crowd 86,174-strong blew their arguments out of the water.
Australia was crowned T20 World Cup champions for the fifth time following a dominant 85-run victory over India in front of a packed Melbourne Cricket Ground.
What does it take to be an Aussie sporting hero? Post continues below video.
Around the world’s largest cricket stadium, the crowd – full of men, women and children – roared, breaking an Australian record for a standalone female sporting event.
Cricket Australia deserves praise: Its promotion and support of the women’s competition has been groundbreaking.
Other official bodies could learn a lot from how it encouraged attendance and treated the competition and its athletes as equal to their male counterparts.
But while cricket is leading the way, there’s plenty else to celebrate about women’s sport in 2020.
There’s still a long way to go, sure, but right now we must celebrate just how far we’ve come.
Below are 16 photos that show the state of women’s sport so far this year.
Of course, we must start with the record-breaking Australian cricket team and their fifth World Cup win.
In January, American Sofia Kenin won the Australian Open aged just 21.
And just a couple of weeks beforehand, Serena Williams won her first title since her maternity leave at the ASB Classic in Auckland.
This win saw her become to first woman in the professional era to win at least one title in four decades: The 90s, 2000s, 2010s and 2020s.
In February, a video of US soccer player Alex Morgan went viral. In it, a seven-month pregnant Morgan trains with teammates. The video was praised across social and mainstream media practices, showing society has come a long way in how it responds to pregnant athletes.
The AFLW has just completed its fifth round for 2020. This year, there is a record 14 teams in the competition.
The above demonstrate amazing sporting moments. Not just amazing women's sporting moments.
It's also an Olympic year, so here's to a year full of many more incredible feats - and large crowds to cheer it all on.