How the race they said women couldn’t run took centre stage

How the race they said women couldn't run took centre stage. The event was removed from the Games after reports – later proven to be false – claimed competitors suffered extreme exhaustion after the race, and the International Olympic Committee decided women were too frail to compete, external over the two-lap distance.

What happened

BBC Sport spoke to the women who helped shape the race to find out. 'You don't realise what you've done'It was the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, and Ann Brightwell (nee Packer) had just crossed the finish line of the women's 800m to take gold – and set a new world record. "I just think I'm so fortunate that I was in a sport where everybody accepted that you have men and women's races in the Olympics. Jensen Huang, chief of AI chipmaker Nvidia, took to social media in August to make the case for data centres as the essential agent of US reindustrialisation.

Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Brigid Kosgei set the women's course record at the Great North Run in 2019ByFfion WynneBBC Sport JournalistPublished13 September 2026Kenya's Brigid Kosgei achieved a convincing victory in the women's race at the Great North Run after Great Britain's Eilish McColgan withdrew with injury. Britain's David Weir won his 10th Great North Run title in the men's wheelchair race as he finished in 43:06, while Melanie Woods was the women's winner in 50:19. This year's race is the 45th edition and an estimated 63,000 runners took part, including Prime Minister Andy Burnham.

After making its debut at the 1928 Olympics, the women's 800m was cut from the programme. Now, it's often billed as the must-see event of major athletics championships. So, how did we get here?

The wider picture

42 seconds shy of breaking the long-standing women's 800m recordByEmma MiddletonBBC Sport journalistPublished5 hours agoFor 32 years, the women's 800m was absent from the Olympics, with its competitors deemed too frail. This extraordinary story starts at the 1928 Olympic Games, which represented a huge – if temporary – step forward for women's sports. The Amsterdam Games were the first to allow women to compete in track and field events. Five women's events were added to the programme – the 100m, high jump, discus, 400m hurdles and, controversially at the time, 800m.

"I didn't give it a thought at the time… but now I realise I played a very small part in women running longer distances. Brightwell knew all about the claims that had seen women unable to compete for 32 years after the 800m was removed from the Olympics. Brightwell adds: "Men weren't happy about women competing in these very high profile events…we were considered too frail and too delicate. "And they took it upon themselves to make it look really bad.

What has been reported

They were saying women were collapsing on the way round. "After 1928, women's middle-distance shrunk into the shadows for the next few decades. The 1964 Olympics was just the third Games with the women's 800m included on the athletics programmeGoing out for a run around the local streets or countryside – which seems so commonplace today – was unusual in the era Brightwell was competing. "Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Boxer-Cahill won gold for England in the 1500m at the 1982 Commonwealth GamesFrom 1971 to 1983, the women's 800m world record would be broken six times.

"Women's 800m 'stronger than ever'"We've got not just two but several girls who are running under two minutes every time they turn out," Brightwell told BBC Sport. "If it happens towards the end of the season, 2026 [would be] the year of women's 800m running. ByFaisal IslamEconomics editorThere is an eerie low hum that emanates from data centres, where tens of thousands of chips make trillions of computations a second to help drive the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution.

Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Data centres, such as this Google site under construction in Hertfordshire, are becoming increasingly common across the UKIn recent days, alarming warnings of threats to humanity have created a din, but it is these low hums that have stirred a backlash in the US which now threatens to envelop its midterm elections, and could cross the Atlantic and come to the UK.

What happens next

In the US, the opposition to data centres is most overt on the political left. "People are looking around worried about how quickly the technology is moving, how little control they have over it, how will data centres impact their community in terms of electric rates and water utilisation," he told me. It's possible that a global AI race travelling at Silicon Valley's top speeds could be about to hit the buffers of very localised political and environmental concerns.

A toxic debateIn the US, polling by Gallup published in May suggested having a data centre in your area was more unpopular than having a nuclear power station. On data centres, 71% were opposed, including 48% strongly opposed. In Brick Lane, plans for a data centre likely to service the City of London's high frequency traders face a backlash from those who would prefer to see more social housing and local business developments in the capital's east end.

Meanwhile in the shires, the sheer demand for data centres sees pressure to expand provision from Slough, into the leafy countryside.

The report has been compiled by The Daily Waves using information reported across bbc.co.uk. Details are presented according to the information available at the time of publication and may change as authorities, organisers or other relevant parties provide updates.