"The whole podium kissing on the cheek thing I think is just a little bit weird, and it just brings this element of sexualisation of the ceremony into it that I don't think is necessary."

“You see women are being trained, but that’s not necessarily translating into active coaches,” says Sandmeyer-Graves, adding that across 54 national teams, only 16 per cent of head coaches and 19 per cent of assistant coaches were female, according to Sport Canada data in 2016. The problems are myriad, she says, citing gender stereotypes that don’t see women in leadership roles, lopsided domestic obligations that make it hard for mothers to volunteer at evening and weekend games, unconscious biases that don’t value female expertise, and few role models.

The appalling coverage of the Australian Open is just the tip of the iceberg. We could also talk about how ridiculous it is that elite female athletes are only permitted to play three sets when the men play five; we could discuss the porny dresses they're given to wear by their sponsors, and how media attention is generally dependent upon their perceived attractiveness.

"Having women involved keeps kids playing," says Danielle Emmons, the community program assistant at the Coaches Association of Ontario. They hope the #SheCanCoach campaign also encourages men to become involved in the conversation about the benefit of women on the coaching staff. "It's about creating a balance so that kids can see that both men and women can be in coaching roles and that women can do it too," Emmons says.

In a 60 Minutes special on American soccer star Christian Pulisic,it was mentioned that the US has never won a World Cup. Twitter was quick to correct this possible error. The US Women’s National Team won the World Cup three times. Was the statement accurate? Did the WNT win the World Cup, or the Women’s World Cup? And if the latter is true, what’s the difference? Sports Illustrated soccer writer Grant Wahl responded to that twitter outrage by tweeting, “Think it’s time that we print folks start calling the tournaments ‘men’s World Cup’ and ‘women’s World Cup’.”

"It's important to understand that the money doesn't come from how well the players hit the five-iron or how accurate their putting is," Mark Lichtenhein, chairman of the Ladies European Tour, told Al Jazeera. "It comes from how well the events are packaged and marketed as a product. Too many women's sports are trying to compete with men's sports on men's terms. They're chasing after the same sponsors and the same TV channels. Because of the male-biased demographics of those channels, they don't necessarily get the same viewing figures, creating a perception that the audience isn't there for women's sports and that it's just an add-on to the men's game."

“Playing with boys pushes me and gives me extra motivation,” she said. “It pushes me to want to workout, to go the extra mile to keep up with them and to keep playing with them. I’m very competitive and I want to get the hit off that fast pitcher and show them that girls can play with boys.”

About 50% fewer women than men cycle twice a week or more, according to transport charity Sustrans, and when it comes to cycling on the roads, the number drops again. Commonly cited reasons for shunning the benefits of getting into the saddle include sexual harassment, fears about appearance and concerns about safety. So what can be done to get more women on their bikes and out on the road?

In the course of interviewing these racers, we uncovered three different categories of abuses that are all too common inside the women’s sport: (i) financial manipulation, (ii) psychological control, and (iii) physical abuse. These abuses can prematurely end careers, limit professional opportunities and economic mobility, and permanently damage the emotional and physical well-being of women in the sport. While some of these abuses have also been noted in the men’s sport, for the women these problems are pervasive, and they reinforce a culture which is indisputably sexist.

Today women are not just playing sports. People are paying attention. In 2015, the Women's College World Series drew more television viewers than the Men's College World Series. In 2017, more than 3.8 million tuned in for the NCAA Women’s Basketball National Championship. There is even evidence that — like men — women are exploited by college sports. So there is enough revenue that some women are actually underpaid by the schools that employ them to play sports.