Dániel Darabos
asked
Ada Palmer:
How do competitive sports work in "Terra Ignota"? Are there separate leagues for men and women, like in our world? If yes, which one did Sniper compete in? If not, is that not a major issue for female athletes in many sports?
Ada Palmer
Great question! We'll see more of this in book 3.
In this future, all sports offer "open" competitions in which anyone can participate, while most sports also have separate divisions based around anatomical difference, though not gender specifically. Think of weight classes in boxing, or how horse races are divided into classes by the height of the horse's shoulders. For each sport, the effects of weight, height, stride, shoulder width etc. are considered and competitions are divided into classes reflecting what advantages different body types offer. Thus racing, for example, might be classed by stride length, basketball and gymnastics by height, discus by shoulder width or arm length, while rifle might not be divided at all since body type doesn't affect rifle skill as much. In many sports, the physically smaller classes tend to have more female competitors since women are smaller on average, but it's far from 100%. In a few sports which are very strongly affected by fundamental skeletal differences, such as how men's and women's hip and knee joints work differently, or how different the center of gravity is for men from women, the division is in a practical sense mostly by sex, but the rules are written in terms of specific physical features rather than gender, and intersex people or people with unusual characteristics which place them anatomically in a category not typical for their sex compete alongside those with similar musculo-skeletal structures, rather than having sex organs be the categorical determiner. Some historic reenactment sports are still gender segregated in this future by tradition, but not modern professional sports. In addition to reducing gender segregation, one effect of this system is to give more opportunities for athletes who have extraordinary ability but don't have extreme anatomy to match it, such as physically large female gymnasts, or short runners.
Sniper is petite and competes in the smallest anatomical category for pentathlon, but is very skilled and prefers to compete in "open" pentathlons. Being petite gives Sniper a disadvantage in the running and swimming elements, and somewhat poor reach in fencing, disadvantages which Sniper makes up for by working extra hard on riding, fencing training, and pistol.
In this future, all sports offer "open" competitions in which anyone can participate, while most sports also have separate divisions based around anatomical difference, though not gender specifically. Think of weight classes in boxing, or how horse races are divided into classes by the height of the horse's shoulders. For each sport, the effects of weight, height, stride, shoulder width etc. are considered and competitions are divided into classes reflecting what advantages different body types offer. Thus racing, for example, might be classed by stride length, basketball and gymnastics by height, discus by shoulder width or arm length, while rifle might not be divided at all since body type doesn't affect rifle skill as much. In many sports, the physically smaller classes tend to have more female competitors since women are smaller on average, but it's far from 100%. In a few sports which are very strongly affected by fundamental skeletal differences, such as how men's and women's hip and knee joints work differently, or how different the center of gravity is for men from women, the division is in a practical sense mostly by sex, but the rules are written in terms of specific physical features rather than gender, and intersex people or people with unusual characteristics which place them anatomically in a category not typical for their sex compete alongside those with similar musculo-skeletal structures, rather than having sex organs be the categorical determiner. Some historic reenactment sports are still gender segregated in this future by tradition, but not modern professional sports. In addition to reducing gender segregation, one effect of this system is to give more opportunities for athletes who have extraordinary ability but don't have extreme anatomy to match it, such as physically large female gymnasts, or short runners.
Sniper is petite and competes in the smallest anatomical category for pentathlon, but is very skilled and prefers to compete in "open" pentathlons. Being petite gives Sniper a disadvantage in the running and swimming elements, and somewhat poor reach in fencing, disadvantages which Sniper makes up for by working extra hard on riding, fencing training, and pistol.
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