Equality has been a theme of these Olympics. Gender-neutrality a key IOC buzzword. 49 per cent of the 11,000 competitors - a record high - are female. Parity of opportunity knocks ever louder with a number of sports losing men-only disciplines once deemed untouchable in order to carve out extra space.
About time, signals Katie Reid, to be one of the pioneers with her sprint canoe singles discipline receiving its Games debut tonight in the 200m heats.
“We all started when the sport was new,” the 26-year-old from Dunfermline declares. “And we've been in it together, and been racing and improving and progressing. It's just amazing that we can showcase our sport and show that we're worthy of it. Like, we should be in an Olympics. The men are already there. We should be showing what we can do.”
She had resigned herself to toasting the evolution from at home. Barely three weeks ago, Reid was not even selected. Word came that a spot had belatedly opened up had her darting to Tokyo when the remainder of her colleagues had long since upped sticks. Kit in the post, rather than hand-picked. All the ceremonial fun of selection long since shut down.
“I missed everything,” she reflects. Except the really thrilling part, of course. Then again, Reid has made late arrivals a habit. Eleventh at the 2019 world championships, she only entered the sport in her late teens when she was talented spotted through the Girls 4 Gold programme and offered the pathway to switch from being a Scottish champion in karate to sprint canoe.
The initiation was inauspicious. “Splash,” she re-enacts of her initial embarkation. “It is incredibly unstable. It's funny because the people give it a go and think it will fine. They try and get in it and instantly end up in the water. It's incredibly hard and requires a lot of resilience. Stubbornness as well. Being Scottish probably helps with that.”
Effectively offered an apprenticeship with a fast track toward promotion, it meant dropping out of university in Dundee and relocating to Nottingham. It was her father who was most persuasive in convincing that it was a chance she could not afford to turn down.
“I always want to push myself and see how far I can go, physically and mentally I guess,” she said. “I love sport. I love just pushing myself. So I was like, 'maybe I could see actually where my limits are.' That's what attracted me to it.
“And I just fell in love with it really. Just the water, being out in the water every day, it's just incredible. I am surrounded by really good people too. It is a unique feeling in canoeing. And it's very addictive.”
Up to four rounds must be negotiated on Sea Forest Water Way if an against-all-odds medal is somehow to be hers. The sisterhood will be paused briefly. Every woman for herself.
“I don't really think I have any expectations,” Reid admitted. “I really just want to go out there and enjoy this experience. My first Games. I know who I'm racing against. All the girls are quite a close bunch. We're competing all the time together. So I know where I stand. But this was such last-minute. It is a bonus for me, to get to go out there and to compete.”
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