Hannah Storm Pens Women's History Month Essay, And It's A Far Cry From Last Year's Lia Thomas Tribute
As Women's History Month rolls on, the tributes to humankind's superior sex continue to flood social media.
(Just kidding, fellas.)
OutKick's International Women's Day post was, of course, the best of the bunch. But there was one other video that caught my eye — from ESPN's Hannah Storm.
Storm's essay laid out "all that it means to be a woman." In two minutes, the longtime SportsCenter anchor explains how women in sports are a force to be reckoned with.
"A woman is undeterred, confident, fearless, persistent, powerful, tenacious, graceful, unapologetic," she begins. "A woman can be enduring, precocious, competitive, a fighter, a pioneer, an influence, a sensation, an inspiration."
Storm narrates over a slideshow featuring dozens of the biggest names in women's sports — specifically highlighting LSU basketball's Angel Reese, Japanese tennis star Naomi Osaka and Swiss para-athletics champ Catherine Debrunner.
"A woman can found a business, influence a fan base, galvanize record crowds, defend a title, run a team, own a league, negotiate a deal, license her designs," she continued. "A woman does compete with men, coach men, call their games, earn equal pay and break their records. Again and again."
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She concluded by arguing that women are "a force of nature" who continue to make history and leave an "indelible imprint on the world of sports."
There was one thing noticeably missing from Storm's International Women's Day tribute, though.
Men.
Remember Last Year, Hannah Storm?
In March 2023, ESPN ran a minute-long promo honoring trans-identifying male swimmer Lia Thomas. It was part of its Women's History Month celebration.
Because nothing says "let's celebrate women" quite like forcing women to celebrate a man.
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The segment painted a picture of Thomas as a pioneer for transgender athletes in Division I sports. It praised Thomas’ persistence and triumph through adversity. And it celebrated his championship in the women’s 500 freestyle.
And it was narrated by none other than Hannah Storm.
"She competed amidst criticism from the swimming community, competitors and teammates," Storm said — clearly not recognizing that discounting the concerns of multiple female athletes to appease the feelings of one male is not a great way to honor women.
Storm continued: "She said she hopes her persistence serves a larger purpose."
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If that purpose was to pave the way for more males to take over women's sports, then mission accomplished. Thomas' victory at the 2022 NCAA Championships brought the issue to light. But since then, we've seen males compete with women and dominate in everything from combat sports to basketball to swimming, cycling and track & field.
Again and again.
Former ESPN personality Sage Steele has been vocal about the need to keep women's sports female. And since the Lia Thomas tribute aired, ESPN host Sam Ponder also rallied for female athletes' rights to fairness and safety — adamantly declaring, "Biology is not bigotry."
You know who, at ESPN, hasn't had the guts to speak up for women, though?
Hannah Storm.
So, yeah, that girl-power essay was nice and all. But until you're brave enough to define the word woman, Hannah… spare me the empty platitudes.