Elite sportswomen have shared their stories, and these are the hard truths

Many athletes in women's sport have told us that they are underpaid, discriminated against, and mistreated in a landmark study conducted by ABC Sport.

The results of our Elite Athletes in Australian Women's Sport Survey show despite the progress made, fundamental issues remain including sexual harassment and violence, sexism, disordered eating and online trolling.

Athletes were asked for their views on a range of topics including earnings, discrimination, health and wellbeing, resourcing and support, with responses from 152 current and recently retired athletes across 47 sports, including multi-sport athletes.

This is the first time ABC Sport has conducted the survey, in partnership with Deakin University's Associate Professors Kim Toffoletti and Jessamy Gleeson, and Dr Kasey Symons.

"This study comes at a crucial time in Australian sport," Dr Toffoletti said.

"Off the back of a sustained period of expansion and investment in women's competitions and growing media interest, this survey highlights the persistence of gender inequality across the sector and its impacts on sport participation for women and minorities."

Key findings

• Most athletes earn between $0 - $20,000 from sport annually

• A majority of athletes have witnessed and/or experienced racism, sexual harassment or violence, and discrimination based on their gender, sexuality, or disability

• Many athletes are dealing with negative feelings around their body image, and nearly half have experienced an eating disorder/disordered eating

• Most say there is not enough education around women's health, and 75 per cent of athletes have experienced menstrual irregularities

• 32 per cent have been trolled on social media, and 87 per cent have seen other athletes abused online

• 41 per cent do not think transgender women should be allowed to compete in women's sport, but 32 per cent are supportive, while 23 per cent are unsure

Struggling to afford the basics 

For many athletes, living off the minimum wage would be a luxury. 

Instead, they're faced with barely earning enough to cover living expenses, let alone travel and accommodation, support staff, equipment, and other resources.

39 per cent don't earn anything from sport, with few earning more than $20,000 annually.

The results include Olympians, Paralympians, those competing in major professional domestic codes, and those in smaller non-professional sports.

"It's extremely difficult to financially support yourself as an athlete across Olympic/Paralympic sports unless you are the greatest of all time or have an incredible story to sell," one athlete wrote. 

That was backed up by winter athletes ABC Sport spoke to, including ski mountaineer Lara Hamilton who is hoping to qualify for February's Olympics in Milano Cortina. 

"I don't own more than three pairs of skis and all of them are currently bashed up, so I'm still trying to figure out how to afford a pair of skis," she said.

"Which sounds so silly because I'm preparing for the Olympics and it's a struggle."

Para athletes face added barriers like equipment modifications and support costs, and eight-time Paralympian Danni Di Toro says they're still fighting for equality.  

"We've still got a long way to go before we can say a gold medal at an Olympics is as valuable ... and as worth celebrating as a gold medal at a Paralympics," she told ABC Sport. 

Athletes also bristled at the argument often used — that the money will come after the viewers and sponsorship dollars roll in. 

Melanie Kawa represented Papua New Guinea in international rugby union, and also played Super W domestically. 

She told us when she was playing, athletes were expected to perform like full-time professionals, while receiving very little funding. 

"It was incredibly hard and anxiety-inducing, because you’d be lying there going 'what else do I have to give?'" she said.

"I'm literally spending every spare moment of the day towards this sport, asking to be professional and still being told 'well we just don’t see it' or 'we don’t have the resources' or 'we’re not going to invest in it.'"

Some acknowledged that progress has been made when it comes to pay, but for those in sports with equivalent male leagues, the disparity is still stark. 

Dr Toffoletti says that the underfunding of women’s sport is a problem across the Australian sport ecosystem. 

"What we pay women’s sport athletes tells us a lot about how we value women in sport and in society more generally," she said. 

Reporting 'doesn't do anything'

A large majority of athletes have witnessed some form of discrimination, and many have experienced it themselves. 

Several respondents shared details of sexual harassment or sexual abuse which we have decided not to detail here. 

Most said they either chose not to report, or were unsatisfied with the action taken after reporting. 

Some athletes shared experiences of "subtle" sexual harassment including sexualised jokes and comments which are "normalised" in elite sport settings, while others experienced more overt displays. 

"The men training in my sessions regularly shove, make mean-spirited comments, ignore, or refuse to train with women," an athlete said.

"They often hog resources needed for training. They do a lot of misogynistic 'locker room' chat at training sessions and are not called out by the coaches or other men." 

And some said they could not report the abuse they experienced or their career "would be over".

Another noted, "Reporting doesn't do anything. It's a sport culture problem."

Dr Toffoletti says clubs and organisations must take notice.

"These everyday forms of sexism and racism are rife in sport and routinely dismissed as 'no big deal,'" she said. 

"But they are subtle expressions of power that reinforce the outdated view that women don’t belong in sport. We need to take them seriously if we want to make sport cultures more inclusive."

Half of athletes with a disability told us they have experienced discrimination.

Nikki Ayers won rowing gold with Jed Altschwager at the Paris 2024 Paralympics, but is now taking a break from sport.

She says she has faced ableism, homophobia and sexism throughout her career.

"As a disabled queer woman my experience has been that I haven't always felt safe and a reason for that is there hasn't always been a visible role model or a visible representation within the sporting community," she said. 

Dr Hannah Macdougall is a Para triathlete who can relate.

"You can have what's known as the double whammy based on discrimination because you're A: female or B: you have an impairment," she said.

Holding trolls accountable

Online abuse is an ever present issue too.

Akec Makur Chuot was the first African-born woman to play in the AFLW.

Now retired, she's a passionate advocate for diversity and inclusion, and addressing racism in sport. 

She has experienced racism online, and told ABC Sport social media companies need to be held accountable by the major sporting organisations. 

"A lot of players are opting to not be on social media, and that is a really big missed opportunity," she said. 

"For example, in the women's space, we don't get paid millions of dollars. And so, for me to not be on social media, I am now missing out on potential income. I'm now missing out on potential endorsements.

"Because I'm too scared to go online because of being racially vilified."

Chuot's experiences are also backed up by a previous study from Deakin University which showed 90 per cent of elite sportswomen experienced some form of gendered online harm.

At the time, lead researcher Caitlin McGrane told us many athletes are advised to 'block' and 'ignore' offenders, and be careful about what they posted.

"It puts the onus back on women to be defending themselves from the potential of harassment and harm, rather than stopping men from doing it in the first place," Dr McGrane said.

Trans women are 'not a threat' to women's sport

Non-binary people's, and particularly transgender women's participation in elite sport have become highly politicised topics. 

But for many survey respondents, the answer to the question of their involvement isn't necessarily black and white. 

Most comments acknowledged the sensitivities and challenges around the debate, noting the need for nuance, and further education.

"Sport is for everyone and transgender and non-binary inclusion, especially at community level are so important to inclusivity that is at the heart of Australian sport," an athlete wrote. 

Several respondents expressed concerns over perceived biological advantages that transgender women may have, and some supported hormonal testing to ensure fairness. 

Others were supportive of their participation in grassroots sport, but not at the elite level, and some suggested giving trans women their own separate category to compete in.

Australian 3x3 basketball Olympian, and Perth Lynx co-captain Anneli Maley is a high profile supporter of transgender women's participation in elite sport. 

She says often the loudest voices of opposition are those who don't invest in the women's game. 

"The biggest threats to women's sport is not trans women. It's actually men thinking that it's trans women," Maley told ABC Sport.

"Because can you name five WNBL players? Have you been to a WNBL game? Have you bought a WNBL membership? Do you go watch local women's sporting clubs?

"That is the biggest area that we need to grow. 

"Trans women have a space in women's sports, 100 per cent."

Not enough women's health support, education

There are still massive knowledge gaps when it comes to women's health issues, and most are suffering in silence.

"There is no consideration of support for athletes on their period, how to manage pain or recovery," an athlete wrote. 

Alexandra Kiroi-Bogatyreva represented Australia in rhythmic gymnastics at the Paris 2024 Olympics, and has won multiple Commonwealth Games medals. 

Now retired, the 23-year-old runs her own academy, and experienced menstrual issues linked to under fuelling. 

"I only got my first period at the age of 19," she said.

"I never really linked it with my food intake or how many hours I trained in the gym.

"I was told to eat more ... [But] it's very hard for a gymnast especially, aesthetic sport, to be told you should eat more carbs, when you're raised in the culture of being thin is better. 

"That mentality is slowly being loosened, but it's still there."

Some acknowledged education around women's health is improving, but there are still barriers. 

"Very few want to talk about it. This seems to be changing as more visibility is provided," a respondent said. 

Others detailed issues with losing their period altogether.

"I have had no menstrual cycle for five years whilst at the top of my sport. Whilst this was a concern for the doctor and dietician on the team, there was no concern from coaching staff."  

And some told us that sickness was often ignored. 

"[The attitude was] if you were able to get out of bed, you were well enough to train," they wrote.

Most athletes have positive feelings about their body image, although for those with negative feelings, the impact is deep.

Some athletes described trying to achieve skin-fold goals or low body fat percentage which affected their mental and physical health. 

"I would go through stages where I wouldn't eat for days and train as normal due to pressures of looking a certain way and impressing my coaches," one athlete noted. 

A lack of education around proper nutrition was also a common theme.

"I wish I had've known what I know now about fuelling my body as a female athlete, treating it with more respect, rather than starving myself to make power to weight ratio and 'cycling specific' body image cultural norms."

Our survey revealed nearly half of respondents have experienced an eating disorder or disordered eating. 

That's significantly more than research from the Butterfly Foundation, which suggests up to 17 per cent of Australians have an eating disorder or more than three symptoms of disordered eating, including restrictive dieting, binge eating, or skipping meals. 

Former Australian ice dancer Matilda Friend told us she struggled with disordered eating through her career, and felt pressure to look a certain way. 

"Sometimes before my training I would get bandages and wrap them around my body, under our tight little training dresses, which was my way of hiding what I thought was too big of a body," she said.

Dr Toffoletti says it's a common experience. 

"There are social expectations on women athletes to look a certain way — thin and toned — which athletes have to navigate alongside performance based expectations," she said.

"This creates a unique set of pressures to manage feminine and sporting identities." 

Call for more female coaches

Women continue to be vastly under-represented in senior levels of sport – and it's harming athletes. 

68 per cent say there aren't enough women coaches in their sport. 

An athlete described only ever having one female coach at the high performance level across her decorated career. 

"The lack of perspective and input from women in the sport influences the experience of female athletes negatively," she said.

Some also felt that male coaches were often the go-to 'default', with women passed over for jobs or only given tokenistic appointments. 

"It’s much easier to confide emotions and bodily feelings to female coaches compared to male," a respondent wrote.

"Men who have the same experience and less rapport than women will get head coaching roles still."

Another said "not having enough female support staff meant they didn't know how our periods impact our performance through the cycles".

Another common issue was investment in coaches and support staff, with low pay often driving people away.  

"Within our club we have access to our coaches regularly, but we don't have access to support staff anywhere near as often," an athlete wrote.

Ali Tucker-Munro is Netball Australia's general manager First Nations and an established coach herself.

She has worked throughout her career to carve out more opportunities for female First Nations coaches. 

She says there are "entrenched barriers" facing Indigenous Australians. 

"I think a lot of our amazing First Nations athletes, they're almost categorised as being naturally talented," she said.

"But they work hard for it and I often wonder if that's one of the limitations people see, whether we give someone an opportunity ... as a head coach, [the perception is] are they there just purely because they're talented or can they actually coach?"

Media coverage slammed

Some athletes involved in smaller or less mainstream sports acknowledged the inclusive approach of their clubs or organisations.

But others had negative experiences.

"There’s a toxic environment among the male competitors in this sport (and I have heard similar stories from elite athlete friends in other sports) where they disparage female athletes, refuse to train with them, hog resources like training space etc," a respondent said.

Almost universally, athletes were frustrated by the mainstream media coverage of women's sport, with most rating it as 'average'.

"Daily bulletins always have men's sport and hardly ever women. Women get hardly any free-to-air-time or prime-time coverage. The same as Para athletes get hardly any coverage, less than women," an athlete wrote.

Another said media coverage played a big part in the progression of women's sport.

"The more coverage [we get], the more sponsorship dollars will come to allow our women to spend more time to become professional and not have to juggle three jobs and their sport," they said.

What's next?

ABC Sport will continue to reveal findings from the survey, while working with Deakin University to raise further awareness of the issues with key figures across Australian sport. 

"This study provides a crucial evidence base to advocate for cultural change and develop strategies to improve conditions for athletes competing in women’s sport," Dr Toffoletti said.

"A whole-of-sport approach is needed to advance gender equity and address the complex drivers of gender inequality as they impact athletes on and off the playing field."

All charts/graphics created by Lindsay Dunbar.

Additional interviews by Johanna McDiarmid, Elizabeth Wright, Kate O'Halloran.