ATLANTA – Dot Richardson still remembers those two kids, hanging over the railing after the U.S. team captured the first gold medal in Olympic softball, both wanting to get a touch of history.One a girl.
The other a boy.“I tried to reach toward them,” Richardson said, her recollection still vivid after all these years. “It was such a meaningful thing.
Everyone really appreciated the athletic talent they were witnessing, no matter the gender. That, to me, encapsulates the 1996 Olympics.”About a generation removed from the passage of Title IX, which vaulted American women toward a more level playing field with the men, the Atlanta Olympics served as a coming-out party for all the progress that had been made toward gender equity.Everywhere, it.