ANDbook “Banned but not expired“, Carlos wrote Beltrn and saves hundreds of women from oblivion published by Desnivel publishing house”crushers“Without this, the riddle of the history of sports remains incomplete. Also referred to in this work as “.pioneers‘, ‘first’, ‘pioneers’ or ‘revolutionaries’, the common factor that defines them all, according to the author, is their ‘illusion’ and ‘the ability to forever open doors that have already been left open’.

Relatively famous athletes like Suzanne Lenglenfanny Blankers-KoenLarissa Latin or lil lvarezBeltrn reviews the virtues of the many women who have had to defy prejudices, prohibitions, medical misconceptions, and others, little known to the public. stale social customs whose simple purpose is to exercise and compete.

Chronologically, the book begins in Cornwall in the late eighteenth century with the figure of Ann the rower. Warrenand ends in the 1960s with the charming Czechoslovakian gymnast Vera. Caslavska. American Meta, on this two-century journey Brevoort, who dared to wear the first trousers in mountain passes; Australian Anette Kellerman, the swimmer who designed the first tight-fitting swimsuit with legs and was arrested by the police for wearing inappropriate clothing; latvian annie London, the first woman to circumnavigate the world by bicycle; wave dutch gymnastics team Olympic champion in Amsterdam 1928, four of them killed by the Nazis.

Also English Lottie dodsuccessful in skating, mountaineering, cycling, golf, hockey and archery, runner-up at Wimbledon at age 13 and winner at age 15; Citizen Muriel HinduHe designed his own motorcycle called ‘Blue Devil’; or the French Alice, one of the greatest ‘roof breakers’ in history militia“Expert in opening minds and brains”, a stubborn fighter until she succeeds in bringing women’s athletics to the world market. Olympic Games and by the way, he created Women’s Games.

In team sports, where difficulties increase due to the obstacles to training and competing in groups, “Forbidden but not defeated” takes their place, as well as the women’s football teams established in English factories during the interwar period. like incredible Dick Kerr Ladies. The title of the book is also related to this context.

“The moment they start to have some success, ban. It is a recurring pattern,” emphasizes the author, who is a professional in the media and has been associated with sports since childhood.

Carlos Beltrn mentions three ‘favorites’ among all the women in his book, written with a great sense of humor: French Micheline Östermeyer, Olympic champion in London in 1948 in discus and weights, bronze medalist in height and an excellent concert pianist; English Violet PercyBeltrn, an amateur runner and pioneer among long-distance runners, feels an “emotional connection”; and Spanish Encarna herndezThe basketball player known as the ‘hooked girl’, who turned 105 in January.

Along with Encarna Hernndez, other Spanish women featured in the piece are Lil. lvarez“a revolutionary who, under the guise of a supreme sport, dares to contradict tradition”, ball Aurora of athletes who crossed the Atlantic to play in America in the 1920s city and Lucinda and Margot moles.

Margot She was the world record holder in the hammer throw, discus thrower, swimmer, hockey player between 1932 and 1975, and the first Spanish Olympic woman in the Winter Games in 1936. “It’s been a world in Spain” is the record woman for 43 years, and not knowing is rare. Miguel de la Quadra Salcedoand it should be, but what did Margot on the same level,” says Beltrn.

“In Spain they are unrecognized women, we don’t have them. reference. They don’t have any social recognition,” he complains.

After completing a “titanic” research and documentation job, the author also has the satisfaction of personally meeting some pieces of his puzzle, such as “The Girl with the Hook” or Jean. collection; And as for the grandchildren and daughter of others Östermeyer.

But it’s also sad to know that many of them died “without seeing how far they had come.” “The mother of basketball” says this is what happened to the American Senda. berensonleft without knowing who “put it together”.

The great pioneers were Anglo-Saxon and wealthy. They can play tennis, hunting or skiing because the men in their families play it. But over time, the geographic and social map has opened up, and Beltrn hasn’t forgotten athletes from first-world environments whose jobs, like the Argentine tennis player Mary. ternretaliated against her political views or Puerto Rican Rebekah Colbergexcels in tennis, track and field, softball, basketball, hockey and lacrosse.

The book was published the same week that world sport became aware of possible reprisals against Iranian mountaineer Elnaz. rival to race without a veil. “Once again, the patterns are repeated,” Beltrn says. “They’re silencing him, he definitely has to say it was an omission in order to protect his family. But soon there will be another and then another and then another and it will be much harder to silence them all.”

Which doors will open in 2022? In the author’s opinion, the most difficult: stop compare men’s and women’s sports. “How are they going to get the same (in income)? If they let it, they create the same. It’s the hardest to make mindset changes. People should be able to enjoy the difference. A women’s basketball game is different from a women’s basketball game. a women’s basketball game. men’s, but what it offers is great. “We have to enjoy, not compare. It’s a very hard cultural part to break, but it’s being achieved gradually”.

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