Esther McVey: Olympic games was an amazing spectacle and women athletes played their part in full

Aug 15 2012

What a spectacular couple of weeks. The sun shone, the medals poured in and the British spirit and goodwill flowed.

Winning athletes accepted their prizes with joy and humility, the crowd cheered and the volunteers were just outstanding providing the support and assistance needed to ensure the Olympics went swimmingly.

On Saturday I went to London for a specially convened meeting to discuss Women in the Olympics. Speakers included  Nawal El Moutawakel , the first African-Muslim to win an Olympic gold who now dedicates her time to supporting women in sport, Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson and HRH Prince Feisal of Jordan founder of Generations for Peace, using sport to promote peace.

All were congregated not only to applaud the progress of London 2012, the first Olympic games to have female contestants from Saudia Arabia, Qatar and Brunei, so ensuring female competitors  from every nation taking part but also to look forward to developing female participation as a way of removing prejudice from sport and promoting peace. Could women play a key role in that aim?

The overall consensus was these games had been hugely positive, promoting women and overcoming prejudices, and by having media coverage of this sporting event to over 2 billion people worldwide had managed to reach out in a way that pure dialogue could not.

The meeting was held to discuss what further progress needed to be made in the run up to Rio and beyond. Women had a platform, and now as mothers they needed to use that platform for peace and justice within society, breaking down barriers within nations as well as between nations.