ABSTRACT
Athletes, and humans, by nature are competitive. (Garcia, Schiff, & Tor, 2013). In track and field that means competing with time to achieve a personal best or competing against others to be the fastest. Track athletes are often taught to race the clock and improve to certain times, rather than beating others. However, for survival humans will always want to be the fastest or strongest. Gender roles developed over years of cultural standards have shaped the way that the genders compete. While all athletes, regardless of gender, want to win; how they perform against other genders can differ. In Co-ed team sports studies show a large difference in play time between genders, but in a sport meant for personal improvement; how can gender effect performance? (Donnelly, 2013) When competing against athletes of the same gender, it is considered a more level playing field. However, the idea of a level playing field with gender, is not always the case in today’s advancing society. With so many inter-sex and transgender athletes, the idea of a level gender playing field can be non-existent. When in a co-ed situation could athletes improve their level of performance. Will Co-ed sports help women reach new heights in athletics, or could it hold men back in their competition and performance (Bishop, 2016). The interaction of genders in sports has little research, and more is needed on the frontier of a new generation of sports.
Access Full Paper by PDF:
https://4fbf3c31-0d92-48ad-8901-0746b288e47f.filesusr.com/ugd/80b0e8_a02d69b874eb44d1a4eb32d5341eae93.pdf
\