At Paris Olympics, women athletes finally reach parity

In 1928 in Amsterdam, they were allowed to compete in athletics for the first time, but the sight of exhausted female runners after the 800m final appalled male onlookers so much that they were excluded again.Until 1968 — forty years later — women were barred from competing in any race of more than 200 metres, and even in 1976 women’s events made up only a quarter of the Olympic programme.Long considered unable to cope with the physical demands of the marathon, they were allowed to take part for the first time at the Los Angeles Games in 1984.”We’ve come a long way over a relatively…