JFIFC    $ &%# #"(-90(*6+"#2D26;=@@@&0FKE>J9?@=C  =)#)==================================================]K" }!1AQa"q2#BR$3br %&'()*456789:CDEFGHIJSTUVWXYZcdefghijstuvwxyz w!1AQaq"2B #3Rbr $4%&'()*56789:CDEFGHIJSTUVWXYZcdefghijstuvwxyz ?].J |&6a?ukįП1T6|Z^Eae+Z֥+P YZ܈LR?ZwvzWjw7:%ڝA&7{W7mV?¥#Fa5@0419q7n١t"?j6F{[ r`cM:tWN֐d (9@5 xXuTt+ O.9w’5`--YeTֲ#DyE8]QWsK߱6QG`pF1RIj<ʟMi/ Kj\kJǼ5v:TQְ?VT'M/k} erNjO {sy*k/pñ4Fg7  7P/SX.M!s'6R4r+cZe}iu;k5(+䊖@YL;[pL^}9$~fxt5j{ ܶpx'ױXiwV=3o?}NI_ΊHx_F\3Zj~O 28GO7UC|y\<jk)glr=zw[]a{! NsjjjpUIFe5ŸI#B̐0eP~K=[y 4 5 DwWYFRFJ,%(rxTaԑY~#s,wy0pCN;{r3KcAΜ}9f[ë=ol5&g5R}Mz杤[^LȬ'>dWxffp0׵m)yM/rlV.ў,L!2vmS&d6x+:4·i8 Er;~+5b>k-P0I `DOj#{;-: ڦ}v2P7Үo{p̤ (tRɊa0bqudby8~/i8^=:~>K<t޹}[1~ /Qo^[Uq7Lcѵ18Hx t:Ʒꖦ 7U-Hbe+$nU6Tr $ 7~VԆYmg{'Fc[Y_8s"*ƣM=/"wDrm}Ȫmbƀ8iܗYxVo,:)ߟݕN?JMkXI`0[nf̱>\V('ĪdU)4eCZ1chRDp1ǹ?Pi|!ˆ<1ߌSg]>ig;vu.n5TRI›%%t3I#JSo, on June 23, 1972, with little controversy, President Richard Nixon signed into law the Educational Amendment Title IX, which contained a section prohibiting discrimination against girls and women in federally funded education, including sports. Like a snowball on a downhill run, what seemed insignificant at the beginning created an avalanche that has completely changed the status of women in sports today.<br>If those old codgers are still alive, I bet they're not grinning now.<br><br>The Sydney Games<br><br>Let's return to the present. The recent Sydney Olympics were a shining example of the dramatic changes made possible by Title IX. The opening ceremonies set the mood when Cathy Freeman was handed the torch from a series of her Australian countrywomen (who had all been Olympic athletes) and took center stage against a backdrop of shimmering water and flame. The moment was a deliberate celebration of the female athlete, and with more women participating and breaking records than ever before, that celebratory feeling carried through the entire Games.<br>Did Title IX have any Olympic influence? Just ask Dot Richardson, who with her teammates won gold in the first-ever women's Olympic softball competition at the 1996 Games, and gold again at the