I started watching this year’s Olympics because of the women’s basketball tournament (and only partly because I’m a washed-up NCAA Division III player). I was riding the WNBA’s new popularity and wondering how USA Basketball could leave the main reason for that popularity – Caitlin Clark – off the Olympic roster. I had to see for myself.

Of course, I was also eager to see superstars like gymnast Simone Biles and swimmer Katie Ledecky continue to dominate. But as the Games went on, I became more involved and discovered lesser-known athletes to root for. I renewed my Peacock subscription and have been watching the women’s competitions whenever I could over the last week, in addition to primetime coverage. It’s impossible to avoid spoilers throughout the day, but I don’t care. I want to see the sass of gymnast Jordan Chiles in action and see Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone’s absolute dominance fly over the hurdles.

It was exciting to see the success of the American women at this year’s Games. Their performances in Paris are impressive. These women are strong and athletic and deserve the increased attention they are attracting.

Ledecky won her ninth Olympic gold medal in swimming in Paris, beating the opposition in the 1,500 freestyle by an incredible 10 seconds. Simone Biles won her seventh gold medal, leading the U.S. gymnasts to the team all-around title before winning two individual gold medals in the women’s all-around and vault (she also won a silver medal in the individual floor exercise, but who’s counting?). On the track, Gabby Thomas won gold in the women’s 200, her first gold medal in her second Olympics—and the first-ever track and field gold medal for a Harvard graduate. Caroline Marks, just 22, won gold in women’s surfing, and 20-year-old Amit Alor won gold in women’s freestyle wrestling, making her the youngest athlete to win an Olympic gold medal for the U.S. wrestling team. PS Alor is an absolute beast; She crushed her Olympic competition 31-2 and hasn’t lost a fight in five years.

More than half of the American medals in the bronze, silver and gold categories went to female athletes. It is almost certain that by the end of the weekend, American women will have won more medals than American men at the Summer Olympics for the fourth year in a row. The basketball players are clear favorites to win gold again. In the quarter-final match against Nigeria on Wednesday, they won their 59th Olympic victory in a row. And the soccer players did extremely well in a strong field. On Tuesday, they beat Germany 1-0 in extra time and reached the final against Brazil on Saturday.

Viewers have clearly taken note of these performances. Around 12.7 million people watched the US gymnasts win gold in the all-around competition. When the US women’s soccer team beat Germany on July 28, it averaged 4.2 million viewers – more than all men’s and women’s soccer matches at the 2024 and 2021 Olympic Games.

So we have new attendance records and some great moments outside of competition too. Most notably, American rugby player Ilona Maher inspired millions by sending the ultimate message: it’s good to be a strong woman and your size is your strength. The women of the US team have earned their status as role models and icons, in addition to being incredible athletes.

Considering how far women have come as athletes in the Olympics over the years—not to mention being included in the Olympics at all—that’s no small feat. Remember, men’s basketball became an Olympic event in 1904. Women’s? Not until 1976. Women’s soccer wasn’t added until 1996, while men’s soccer was the first team sport added to the modern Olympics in 1900. And another surprise: The women’s 1500-meter freestyle swimming wasn’t added until 2021. And the 2024 Olympics will feature equal representation for the first time, at 50 percent, among female athletes.

I was born in 1971, a year before Title IX went into effect, and I started playing sports at age five—for one year I was the only girl in my hometown playing Little League baseball. Athletics was an important part of my life, as a participant, as a spectator, and in my professional life as a journalist. After I graduated from college, I was the young woman in her twenties who went to the town’s basketball courts and insisted on playing the all-male game, partly to see the men’s faces 15 minutes later when they reluctantly passed me the ball.

As I get older, I just find joy in lifting weights and feeling strong. As I reflect on the last few weeks of women’s competition, I think it may not be a coincidence that the Barbie movie came out about a year ago. Not to mention the fact that with Kamala Harris, we have a woman of color at the helm of a major party’s presidential nomination for the first time in American history.. As the “Barbie” narrator says, “All of these women are Barbie, and Barbie is all of these women. She may have started out as a simple lady in a bathing suit, but she’s become so much more.” The women I’m watching at the Olympics are a symbol of how deeply ingrained attitudes continue to change. Women achieve so much when given the chance.