The following is a sampling of what readers have thought about Women and the Olympic Dream:
Through more than a century of Olympic Games history, women athletes (who were held back from swimming because long skirts were required), were limited to running single-lap races because of fallacies about fragility, or forced to endure invasive gender exams — competed in spite of endless challenges.
Mary Cowper, Midwest Book Review (reviewed September 2022)
From Athens 1896 to Tokyo 2020, “Women and the Olympic Dream: The Continuing Struggle for Equality, 1896-2021” by Maria Kaj is remarkable history of women’s participation in the Olympic Games and centers on female athletes who overcame entrenched inequity to gain inclusion.
Critique: Occasionally illustrated with black-and-white images and an absolutely fascinating and informative read bringing out of an undeserved obscurity the story of women in sports overcoming discrimination on the Olympic Games level, “Women and the Olympic Dream: The Continuing Struggle for Equality, 1896-2021” is a singularly and unreservedly recommended addition to community, college, and university library Women’s Sports History collections in general, and Olympic Games History supplemental curriculum studies lists, in particular. It should be noted for students, academia, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that “Women and the Olympic Dream: The Continuing Struggle for Equality, 1896-2021” is also available in a digital book format.
Continuing struggle indeed: Maria Kaj gets us ready for athletic competition and then races us through the many decades and decisions that have followed female Olympians since they were “allowed” to compete, recording their agonies and accomplishments in a free-ranging style that underscores the value of women’s sports…
Dr. Linda K. Fuller, Worcester State University, author of Female Olympian and Paralympian Events: Analyses, Backgrounds, and Timelines (reviewed July 2022)
Maria Kaj’s lively, engaging, and humorous writing style brings to life the richness of women’s Olympic history. With every stride, stroke, and shot, women made history on sports’ global stage and Women and the Olympic Dream shines a much needed light on their achievements.
Dr. Rita Liberti, California State University, East Bay, author of (Re)Presenting Wilma Rudolph (reviewed July 2022)
A must read for anyone interested in women’s important place in the Olympics’ past and its present.