Olympic milestone ‘WE'RE BRINGING GIRL POWER TO THE GAMES!'

Meet the Sky Sport sisters taking on Tokyo

- Kelly Bertrand

When broadcasters Kirstie Stanway, Kristina Eddy, Rikki Swannell and Storm Purvis realised they were part of Sky Sport’s first-ever all-female reporting team to head to the Olympic Games, they weren’t sure whether to party or not.

“One of my friends asked me if I wanted to celebrate it or if I wanted to make it sound normal and leave it,” says former Silver Ferns star Storm, 28. “But it is a big deal and I’m glad we’re making it a big deal so that, one day, it doesn’t need to be celebrated.”

Smiling, Kirstie, 29, adds, “It’s crazy that it’s happening – it’s so exciting. I remember when I first started in the industry just five years ago and I turned up to my first rugby press conference at the Crusaders. It was just the old, stale, male sport reporters and it was so intimidating. I was the only woman. No one said hello and they just looked at me like, ‘What are you doing here? Are you the photographer?’”

Women have been always woefully underrepresented in sports coverage and for veteran journalist Rikki, 40, to be able to head up an all-female team at the sporting world’s pinnacle event is a culmination of almost 20 years of dreaming.

“For me to not betoken, and to not be the only one, is amazing,” she tells Woman’s Day. “I love having other women there! There’s no ego with an all-female team and it’s fantastic.

“But everyone going is good at what they do, regardless of gender, and we were the ones who were keen to take on a really big challenge – which, as far as I hear, some of the guys weren’t.”