Athletes: Anita DeFrantz

Anita DeFrantz (1954-present) captained the U.S. women’s rowing team and was part of the team that won a bronze medal at the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games – the first games where women’s rowing was introduced. After her athletic career, she went on to become the first African American — and first American woman — to represent the U.S. on the International Olympic Committee.

For Further Reading:

My Olympic Life Former Olympian Anita DeFrantz Continues to Serve as an Advocate for Athletes Anita L. DeFrantz, America’s powerful Olympic presence

This month we're celebrating the women who performed physical and mental feats in sports. They overcame societal barriers, personal struggles, and fierce competition to pursue their dreams of glory. We're talking about Athletes.

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Every weekday, listeners explore the trials, tragedies, and triumphs of groundbreaking women throughout history who have dramatically shaped the world around us. In each 5 minute episode, we’ll dive into the story behind one woman listeners may or may not know–but definitely should. These diverse women from across space and time are grouped into easily accessible and engaging monthly themes like Educators, Villains, Indigenous Storytellers, Activists, and many more. Womanica is hosted by WMN co-founder and award-winning journalist Jenny Kaplan. The bite-sized episodes pack painstakingly researched content into fun, entertaining, and addictive daily adventures.

Womanica was created by Liz Kaplan and Jenny Kaplan, executive produced by Jenny Kaplan, and produced by Grace Lynch, Maddy Foley, Brittany Martinez, Edie Allard, Lindsey Kratochwill, Adesuwa Agbonile, Carmen Borca-Carrillo, Taylor Williamson, Sara Schleede, Paloma Moreno Jimenez, Luci Jones, Abbey Delk, Hannah Bottum, Lauren Willams, and Adrien Behn. Special thanks to Shira Atkins. Original theme music composed by Miles Moran.

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