More girls than ever dream of top sporting success – but big gender gap remains

More girls than ever are dreaming of reaching the top level in sport, but a gender gap remains with significantly more boys believing they can reach the top than girls, according to a charity.

Despite the rise in the number of girls hoping to be top-level athletes, 40% say they are not encouraged to excel in sports.

According to Women in Sport, a charity aiming to get more girls playing sport, almost six in 10 boys aspire to reach the top in sport, compared to four in 10 girls.

The charity surveyed 2,626 girls and boys aged 13-24 to find out their attitudes towards sport, and shared the results exclusively with Sky News.

It found that despite a rise in the percentage of girls dreaming of doing top-level sport from 29% in 2023 to 38% this year, women and girls are less supported into sports than their male counterparts.

Four months after the Paris 2024 Olympics and Paralympics, two-thirds of girls said the games had inspired them to become more active.

But nearly a third of girls say they don’t expect to be good at sport.

To combat this, Women In Sport launched their Big Sister project in the wake of the Olympics.

It aims to keep teenage girls playing sport at leisure centres across the UK.

‘Confidence issues’

Project officer Shereen Charles said teenage girls have “a lot of confidence issues” that deter them from playing sport.

She told Sky News they “fear judgement”, and don’t always know what sporting opportunities are available to them, whereas boys are “exposed to a lot more activities”.

Sport gives ‘so much confidence’

Reacting to the statistics, former Olympic swimmer Rebecca Adlington told Sky News that sport gave her “so much confidence at the time” during her teenage years.

The four-time medal winner said swimming was her “community” and she hopes the LA Olympics in 2028 will continue to inspire girls to play sports.