Photo: Michael Tran/FilmMagic
Hilary Knightloves lifting up her fellow female athletes.
Singling out the outdated and misogynistic notion that women in sports must choose between being feminine or athletic, Knight tells PEOPLE exclusively that “being strong was sort of a knock against myfemininity,” though she’s come to understand with time that “it’s one of those things that you realize, ‘Oh my gosh, that’s ridiculous!’ "
“I don’t think that I’d be waking up every single day, along with my teammates, trying to pave a better path for the next generation at the professional level and the national level [if things were equal].Women do not have the same footing that mendo right now,” she says. “And I think that’s just another hat that we wear … and hopefully that will change.”
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Hilary Knight.Meg Oliphant/Getty
Knight is a strong advocate for gender equality in sports and credits her “support system” with giving her “the confidence to stand up and think about [things] differently,” especially “when there are other external pressures trying to tell you otherwise.”
The athlete says she got her “first taste” of the power of support from other women, years ago, when she “jokingly” posted a photograph of herself on a scale at a gym. Noting she was told to gain weight for her sport, Knight says, “It was something that I felt uncomfortable with, just a person, but I knew it was important for my role on the team.”
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The social media photo, Knight details, provided her with an “outpouring of support from people that I didn’t even know.”
“It really gave me an additional resolve to say, you know, I might not fit into a magazine or what you see or are being told women should look like, but strong is feminine and strong is beautiful,” Knight says. “And that was sort of my ‘aha moment’ to take it from there and have that self-realization.”
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The Idaho native says “there’s definitely less wear on the tires because we almost missed a year and a half of competition” due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s crazy to think about, but I think I’m more hungry than I was before,” Knight continues. “And I think a lot of that is [from either] COVID providing perspective in just wanting to be around the team even more, because we weren’t allowed to, or if that was coming back from a foot surgery and saying I really want to do this and I want to come back better.”
“So, if anything, I think I’m really excited to be a part of the squad whenever we do get those moments, and I’m now more appreciative of those moments considering they can be taken away so quickly,” she adds.
To learn more about all the Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls, visitTeamUSA.org. Watch the Winter Olympics, beginning this February, and the Winter Paralympics, beginning this March, on NBC.
source: people.com
