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Ennis ruled the track, but will women follow in her footsteps?Team GB’s women have achieved their greatest feat ever, so far winning 36 per cent of all of the nation’s medals at London 2012. But for more than half of UK women watching them on TV, even the shortest of the track races – the 100m - is a daunting prospect.
More than half of British women (56 per cent) believe it would be difficult or impossible to run 100m. In comparison, only 31 per cent of men lack the same confidence in their abilities.
As everyone’s thoughts turn to the legacy of the Games on the activity and sporting levels of the British population, a survey by Slimming World and YouGov has discovered that three quarters of the UK never take part in competitive activity and more than half don’t bother with non-competitive activity either.
But it’s not that we aren’t sports fans – 59 per cent of men regularly watch sport on TV, and the amount we’re all watching has predictably risen thanks to the Olympics. So let’s hope the inspirational performance of our national team has given us the get up and go to launch ourselves off the sofa.
“These findings show how daunting the idea of physical activity can be for the many of us who lead completely sedentary lives,” says Slimming World’s Carolyn Pallister in a statement.
The Games have been dubbed “the best ever games for women” by CEO of the Women’s Sport and Fitness Foundation (WSFF), Sue Tibballs. But she admits that more needs to be done to raise the profile of women’s sport and encourage more armchair supporters to give it a go.
The WSFF has joined up with Stylist magazine to collect signatures on a petition to push for better representation of women’s sport in UK media.
