Last month, on March 3, 1976, nineteen Yale oarswomen walked into their athletic director's office, removed their sweats, and revealed "Title IX" written across their bodies. They were cold, they were tired of waiting on buses while the men used the only showers, and they were done being invisible. The next day, their protest was in The New York Times. Within a year, Yale had built them a locker room.

I was training for the Montreal Olympics that spring, preparing to compete in one of the first women's rowing events in Olympic history. The Yale women and I were fighting the same fight on different fronts: them on campus, us on the international stage. Title IX was just four years old, and most institutions were still pretending they hadn't heard of it. 🚣‍♀️

Fifty years later, I look at women's rowing today and see the fruit of that courage. Scholarships, facilities, coaching staffs, national championships. None of it came because someone decided to be generous. It came because athletes like Chris Ernst and her teammates refused to be silent.
Who are the women who opened doors for you? Take a moment to thank them... or to become one yourself. ✊

#TitleIX #YaleRowing #WomensRowing #GenderEquity #WomenInSport #AHeroForDaisy #ChrisErnst #1976 #CollegeAthletics #EqualOpportunity #SportBelongsToEveryone #RowingHistory #WomenAthletes #AthleteRights #TitleIX50

Fifty years ago this summer, I stood on the medal podium in Montreal with my teammates from the women's eight. We had just won bronze... and we had just made history. 1976 was the first year women were allowed to compete in Olympic rowing events. Think about that: the sport had been part of the Games since 1900, yet women had to wait 76 years for our turn on the water. 🥉

Montreal is celebrating the 50th anniversary of those Games throughout 2026, and the rowing community is gathering for MONTRÉAL AVIRON 1976-2026 to honor that milestone. For those of us who were there, it's a chance to remember what it felt like to finally belong on the Olympic stage. For the generations who came after, it's a reminder that the doors we walk through today were opened by those who refused to accept "not yet."

I often think about my teammates and the women from other nations who competed alongside us. We didn't talk much about being pioneers; we were too busy trying to win. The history part became clearer with time. What matters now is that young women can pursue rowing at every level without anyone questioning whether they belong.

If you were in Montreal in 1976, or if you have memories of those Games, I'd love to hear your stories. History lives in the telling. 🇨🇦

#Montreal1976 #OlympicHistory #WomensRowing #TitleIX #OlympicLegacy #USRowing #WomenInSport #OlympicMedalist #Montreal2026 #SheRows #GenderEquity #OlympicMovement #SportBelongsToEveryone #RowingCommunity #50thAnniversary

The flames have been extinguished. For the first time in Olympic Winter Games history, two cauldrons were put out simultaneously: one in Milan, one in Cortina d'Ampezzo. And just like that, the XXV Olympic Winter Games came to a close in one of the most breathtaking settings sport has ever known.

The Closing Ceremony was held at the Arena di Verona; a nearly 2,000-year-old Roman amphitheatre that was hosting events when the Ancient Olympic Games were still being contested. The last time an ancient monument served as the stage for an Olympic ceremony was Athens in 1896. The theme was "Beauty in Action," and it delivered on that promise: Italian opera, ballet, a celebration of culture that reminded the world why we gather in the first place.
But for me, the beauty was in the numbers.

Nearly 2,900 athletes from 93 countries competed across 116 events. Norway led the medal table with 18 golds and 41 medals overall. The United States earned 33 medals, including 12 golds... our strongest Winter Games performance ever. Italy claimed 30 medals on home soil. Three nations competed at the Winter Games for the first time: Benin, Guinea-Bissau, and the United Arab Emirates. Brazil won its first Winter Olympic medal ever: a gold in Alpine skiing. Ski mountaineering made its Olympic debut, expanding what it means to be a winter sport.

And this was the most gender-balanced Winter Olympics in history. Women made up 47 percent of the athletes. There were 50 women's events on the programme; a record. Twelve of sixteen disciplines achieved full gender parity. When I began advocating for women's inclusion on the IOC Executive Board in the 1990s, these numbers were unimaginable. Now they are the starting line for the next push toward full equality.

These were also Kirsty Coventry's first Games as IOC President. She rose to the moment beautifully: praising the athletes as "brave, fearless, full of heart and passion," honoring the volunteers who brought warmth to every venue, and guiding the handover of the Olympic flag to the French Alps 2030 with grace and vision. I have watched many IOC Presidents navigate the complex demands of hosting an Olympic Games. Kirsty demonstrated that the future of the Olympic movement is in excellent hands....

The Paralympic Winter Games open on March 6, right there in the Verona Arena. Around 665 athletes will compete in 79 events across six sports. The Games are not over; they are simply entering their next chapter.

Sport belongs to everyone. Milano Cortina proved it once again.

#MilanoCortina2026 #ClosingCeremedy #WinterOlympics #OlympicGames #BeautyInAction #VeronaArena #IOC #KirstyCoventry #GenderEquality #WomenInSport #Paralympics #FrenchAlps2030 #OlympicLegacy #SportBelongsToEveryone #TeamUSA #OlympicMovement #ParalympicWinterGames

On February 22, Team USA defeated Canada 2-1 in overtime to win the men's ice hockey gold medal at Milano Cortina 2026. It was the first American men's hockey gold since Lake Placid.

1980.

That year lives in my bones. It was the year I was supposed to compete in my second Olympic Games in Moscow. I was in the best shape of my rowing career. Our team was ready. And then our government decided that we would not go; that American athletes would pay the price for a political dispute between nations.

I filed suit against the United States Olympic Committee. I believed then, and I believe now, that athletes have a fundamental right to compete. The courts did not rule in our favor. But the IOC recognized the effort with the Bronze Medal of the Olympic Order, and the principle endured: athletes should never be used as political pawns.

While I was fighting that battle in 1980, a group of young American hockey players were doing something no one thought possible on the ice at Lake Placid. They defeated the Soviet Union and went on to win gold in what the world would call "The Miracle on Ice."

Forty-six years later, in a packed arena in Milan, Jack Hughes scored in overtime to give the United States another men's hockey gold. The women's team did the same thing just days earlier: defeating Canada 2-1 in overtime for their own gold medal. Two overtime victories. Two golden moments. One nation.

Here is what connects these stories across 46 years: the conviction that athletes deserve their moment. That sport, at its finest, produces outcomes no one can predict. That when you let people compete, extraordinary things happen.
The 1980 boycott stole that chance from 461 American athletes, including me. But sport endures. The flame keeps burning. And sometimes... 46 years later... you get your miracle.

~Anita

#TeamUSA #MilanoCortina2026 #IceHockey #MiracleOnIce #OlympicGold #1980Boycott #AthletesRights #WinterOlympics #OlympicHistory #USA #SportBelongsToEveryone #Hockey #OvertimeGold #LakePlacid #OlympicMovement

On February 6, I carried the Olympic flame through the streets of Milan; and then I placed it into the hands of Kirsty Coventry, President of the International Olympic Committee.

I have had many extraordinary moments in my Olympic life. I stood up for athletes' rights in 1980 when it cost me my own chance to compete. I helped plan Olympic Villages in 1984. I served on the IOC Executive Board for many years and was the first woman elected Vice President. But, this moment in Milan was something different; something I had worked toward without fully knowing it.

When I began my work in Olympic governance nearly four decades ago, the idea of a woman leading the IOC was not part of anyone's serious conversation. We were fighting just to be in the room. We were fighting for women's events to be added to the programme. We were fighting for a seat at the table where decisions about sport's future were made.

Now, having a woman President of the IOC is exactly how the world should be.

Kirsty is a two-time Olympic gold medalist and a seven-time Olympic medalist in swimming. She understands what it means to push past limits....in the pool and in the boardroom. She is the right leader for this moment: thoughtful, courageous, committed to the athletes.

She said publicly that I "....led the way for female leaders in sports, globally." Those words mean the world to me. But the truth is: we all led the way. Every woman who fought to compete, every woman who insisted on being heard in governance, every woman who refused to accept that sport was not for her.

The Olympic flame is a symbol of continuity. It connects ancient Olympia to every host city, every generation, every athlete who carries the dream of peaceful competition. Handing that flame to Kirsty was not just a personal moment between two women who love sport. It was a symbol of what becomes possible when we refuse to accept limits on who can lead.

Sport belongs to everyone. It always has. Now the world is beginning to understand that leadership in sport does too.

~ Anita

CHECK OUT THE PHOTOS FROM THE EVENT HERE:
https://www.olympics.com/ioc/news/olympic-torch-relay-emotional-handover-from-women-in-sport-trailblazer-anita-defrantz-to-ioc-president-kirsty-coventry

#OlympicTorchRelay #MilanoCortina2026 #WomenInLeadership #IOC #KirstyCoventry #OlympicFlame #WomenInSport #SportBelongsToEveryone #OlympicMovement #PassingTheTorch #WinterOlympics2026 #GenderEquality #OlympicLegacy

In a few weeks, the Olympic flame will enter San Siro Stadium in Milan for the Opening Ceremony of Milano Cortina 2026.
It will be a night of pageantry, of national anthems, of athletes marching behind their flags. But for those of us who have spent our lives in the Olympic Movement, it will also be something more.

It will be the first Olympic Games under the leadership of Kirsty Coventry.

I have thought often about what this moment represents. Kirsty was a nine-year-old girl in Zimbabwe when she watched the Barcelona Olympics and decided she wanted to compete. She went on to become the most decorated African Olympian in history: seven medals, two gold, across five Games. She chaired the IOC Athletes' Commission. She served as Zimbabwe's Minister of Sport.

And on March 20, 2025, she shattered a ceiling that had stood for 131 years.

The International Olympic Committee, founded in 1894, had been led by nine presidents. All men. Eight Europeans. One American. When Kirsty received 49 votes on the first ballot, she became the first woman and the first African to hold the position.

Now she will preside over her first Games.

The torch has been traveling across Italy since November, carried by 10,001 bearers through 300 towns. On February 6th, it arrives in Milan. And when Kirsty Coventry welcomes the world to these Winter Games, she will do so as a symbol of how far we have come... and a reminder of how much further we can go.

Later this year, Africa will host its first-ever Olympic event: the Youth Olympic Games in Dakar, Senegal. A continent that has produced champions for generations will finally welcome the world to compete on its soil.

As Kirsty said in her New Year's message: "These Games represent so much for Africa. They will inspire the next generation and open doors of opportunity across our continent and beyond."

The Olympic Movement is evolving. And we are watching history unfold.

Milano Cortina 2026. February 6th.

On January 14th, registration opened for LA28 Olympic tickets.

I read those words and felt time fold in on itself.

In 1984, I served as Vice President of the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee, responsible for planning the Olympic Villages. I remember the months of preparation, the impossible logistics, the quiet moments wondering if we could truly pull it off. And then the Games arrived... and Los Angeles became the center of the world.

That summer changed everything. The surplus from those Games created the LA84 Foundation, where I would spend nearly three decades investing over $250 million in youth sports across Southern California. One Games. Generations of impact.
Now the Olympics are returning to Los Angeles. And for the first time, fans worldwide can take their first step toward being part of it.

What strikes me most about the LA28 ticketing announcement is the commitment to accessibility. One million tickets priced at $28. A third of all tickets under $100. A locals presale for Southern California and Oklahoma residents. A fundraising initiative to put free tickets directly into the hands of community organizations.

This matters. The Olympic Games should not be reserved for those who can afford premium experiences. They belong to the grandmother who wants to show her grandchild what athletic excellence looks like. To the young athlete dreaming of one day standing on that same field. To the family saving for years to witness history together.

Sport belongs to everyone. And LA28 is building a Games that reflects that truth.

If you have ever dreamed of attending the Olympics, this is your moment. Register at tickets.la28.org.

I will see you there.

Friends, colleagues, and family: This month, we honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Dr. King spoke of the "fierce urgency of now." He warned against the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. He understood that justice delayed is justice denied.

I think about these words often in my work.

When I filed suit against the United States Olympic Committee in 1980, seeking to let athletes decide for themselves whether to compete in Moscow, I was told to wait. To be patient. That politics would sort itself out. But athletes' dreams do not wait. Careers measured in years, sometimes months, do not wait. The moment passes, and it does not return.

Dr. King knew this. He knew that those who benefit from the status quo will always counsel patience to those who suffer under it.

Sport has long been a frontier of the civil rights movement. Jesse Owens in Berlin. Tommie Smith and John Carlos in Mexico City. Muhammad Ali refusing induction. Billie Jean King demanding equal prize money. Arthur Ashe speaking truth about apartheid. Each of them was told to keep politics out of sport. Each of them understood that there is no such thing as neutral ground when human dignity is at stake.

And today, as we prepare to welcome the world to Los Angeles in 2028, I am reminded that the Games themselves are unfinished work. The Olympic Movement has made progress: equal numbers of men and women now compete; our first woman President leads the IOC; athletes from more nations participate than ever before. But access remains unequal. Resources remain concentrated. Too many young people still cannot reach the starting line.

Dr. King dreamed of a beloved community. In sport, we call it something simpler: a level playing field.

It's not perfect yet. But, we keep building.

Today, I honor Dr. King not with words alone, but with renewed commitment to the work that remains.

The urgency is still fierce. The time is still now.

Happy Martin Luther King, Junior Day!

- Anita

#MLKDay #MartinLutherKingJr #MLK #CivilRights #DrKing #SocialJustice #HumanRights #EndHumanTrafficking #SportForAll #LA28 #OlympicMovement #EqualityInSport #JusticeDelayedIsJusticeDenied #FierceUrgencyOfNow #BelovedCommunity

Welcome, 2026!

Happy New Year!

The Olympic flame is burning. Milano Cortina awaits. Los Angeles is on the horizon.

IOC President Coventry steers the ship of the Olympic Games and the Movement into the future.

2026 is going to be extraordinary.

Let's go!