The first time I truly understood the transformative power of sports was when I crossed the finish line of the 2001 Chicago Marathon, my first attempt at the distance. 

I decided to run a marathon on a whim. Up until that point, my longest run was six miles. But I was curious. What if I tried? Over 16 weeks of training, I pushed my body to run more than I ever thought was possible. Before each long run, I was anxious, wondering if I could actually cover the mileage. But each week, I finished the run amazed by the human body. 

More surprisingly, training for a marathon transformed how I saw myself. Despite playing sports most of my life, I didn’t consider myself an athlete and definitely not a runner. Marathon training helped me reframe who I thought I was and what I believed I was capable of. More than physical fitness, I gained confidence and resiliency. I learned how to problem solve and how to believe in myself.

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The Transformative Power of Sport

Throughout history, we’ve witnessed the transformative power of sports—in ourselves, in our communities, and in society—and the way it can disrupt the status quo and lead to sociocultural change. In 1973, tennis champ Billie Jean King beat former world number one player Bobby Riggs in the Battle of the Sexes, the ultimate showdown that proved women weren’t the weaker sex. When Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 passed, it opened the floodgates for girls to participate in sports and paved the path to future careers in the C-suite. In 2019, U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team (USWNT) players sued US Soccer for gender discrimination, a fight that resonated so broadly that the team was met with chants of “Equal Pay” upon willing their historic fourth World Cup title.