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Wonder women
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In the first modern Olympics not a single woman competed. In London, almost half the athletes are female. Hindustan Times features the gals who prove what men can do, they can do better.
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Stephanie Rice - Swimming, AustraliaThe Australian was a triple gold medallist at Beijing and will be primed to add to her collection in London. In 2010 she was much-maligned on twitter after she tweeted a homophobic slur and had to make a tearful apology to get back in the good books of fans.
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Marta - Football, BrazilThe best female footballer on the planet, Marta, will not just be there, she’ll be there on a mission. Called Pele in a skirt (she’s also played club football for the Brazilian legend’s former club Santos), her football skills rival those of her male counterparts and has enthralled purists.
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Jessica Ennis - Heptathlon, Great Britain Jessica Ennis is literally the 'poster girl' for the home team. A giant image of the former European and World heptathlon champion has been placed near London's Heathrow airport to greet visitors to the country for the duration of this summer’s Olympic Games.
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Valentina Vezzali - Fencing, ItalyThe 38-year-old fencing legend has five Olympic gold medals, 13 world championship gold medals and the sword skills of the protagonist of an Alexander Dumas novel (her Attaque au Fer would do The Three Musketeers proud).
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Kerri Walsh and Misty May Treanor - Beach volleyball, USAThe Americans have been beach volleyball’s poster children ever since the sport was introduced into the Olympic fold in Athens.
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Victoria Pendelton - Cycling, Great BritainWhen she won gold in Beijing she called it the saddest day of her life because the squad reacted angrily after news of her affair with coach Scott Gardner broke. Now, four years later she’s back to win gold, and this time it’s as a tribute to Gardner, now her fiancée.
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Allyson Felix - Sprints, USThe only woman standing between Jamaican dominance at the sprint events, the double 200m world champion has never won an individual Olympic gold and will have the Jamaican duo of Veronica-Campbell Brown and Shelly-Ann Fraser standing in the way.
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Mary Kom - Boxing, IndiaFive-time world boxing champion and India’s most successful female athlete Mary Kom and has been rated the 38th most marketable athlete in the world by leading magazine SportsPro.
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Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce - Sprints, JamaicaAfter winning the 100m gold at Beijing, she'll now be aiming for a sprint double at London.
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Serena Williams - Tennis, USAOn the wrong side of thirty these days, she showed she’s still the gal to beat, winning an astounding 14th major at Wimbledon last month. Will an Olympic gold follow?
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