Unfortunately there are only a small number of sports where men and women compete against each other equally regardless of sex. In these sports, the physical differences between men and women are deemed not to have any effect on the outcome of any competition.True Mixed Sex Sports
- Horse Racing: On the Flat and over jumps, women and men ride and compete against each other equally. And in a recent study it was concluded that female riders perform no better or worse than their male counterparts on horses of similar ability.
- Equestrian: An Olympic sport in which competitors ride horses, male and female riders compete head top head against each other in eventing, dressage and show jumping disciplines. The reason for this is that the attributes required to be successful are to be a confident and able rider of horses, something in which the sexes don’t differ. Equestrian is the only Olympic event of men and women competing directly head-to-head and the events are dominated by women. It’s estimated that two thirds of the approx 30,000 athletes in the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) database of competitors in the Olympic equestrian are female.
- Sailing: Men and women compete together in sailing in one particular class, the Nacre 17. All other classes are segregated by sex.
- Motorbike Racing: Doesn’t have gender barriers and female riders are starting to make a lot of progress in the sports. In September 2017 Ana Carrasco, a 20-year-old from Spain, became the first woman to win a world championship motorcycle race in Portimao, Portugal.
