Absolutely. But it isn’t a case of someone not being tough, there are fundamental differences between male and female anatomy musculature and function on a weight normalized basis.
Males have on average 40% more muscle mass in the torso and 33% more in the legs according to accepted medical sources.
Men’s muscle tissue is also stronger pound for pound by 15% (it is constructed slightly differently) and men have 15% greater bone mass than women do, probably to provide a stronger frame to attach the more powerful muscles to.
This is no knock on women’s toughness, because I know plenty of tough, capable women, but it is a simple biological fact caused in large part by the naturally produced steroids in men that women lack: Testosterone.
Having women compete directly against men in physical tasks and sports is generally bad for women not just because they cannot complete at the top levels, but because it marginalizes them. I don’t watch women’s sports because I dislike women (quite the contrary!) but because I enjoy competition at the peak of the physical pyramid, and that is occupied by men.
I used to play hockey for many years, and was in a non-check league where there were several women who were on teams. They were fast, could skate well, and could handle the puck and shoot decently, but...in a game, they couldn’t do anything. The league was non-check, but that doesn’t mean people weren’t physical...it just meant you couldn’t check people, and they female players, as talented as they appeared when skating and shooting in warmups, simply couldn’t compete directly in the game. That observation wasn’t a knock on them-it was just reality.
I think the competitive fires burn just as fiercely in many women as they do in men, but in a head to head matchup, it is going to be no contest the higher up that pyramid of physical skill and capability one goes. There will always be women who can best a given man at a physical task, and when you get 75% up that physical pyramid, instead of being a no-man’s land, it is a no-women’s land.
As for racing, I don’t follow it, but I am told that it takes considerable upper body strength most especially in races of long duration, but I defer to others who may know it better.
I think the kind of thing this woman was performing in, short duration, likely in a machine with some kind of hydraulically assisted steering is something a woman could compete in, as it is less geared to physical strength I suspect and more oriented towards organizational skills (Assembling the right team and the right machine) and what is really required are those skills plus the desire to compete in it.
You would think that weight would be a factor in straight-line speed races. But if that was the case you would figure that 65lb women would own all the records by now. Ha, the media would push the sport relentlessly, land speed record races would be hailed as the new soccer by popular culture.
Freegards
Isn’t it sad that for centuries people on earth knew males were physically stronger than females...but now people have to be told about it? What a crazy world.
She looks like a sweet girl. Very sorry for her family. May she rest in peace.