The same is not the case; however, for men’s sports. Analysis of the covers shows us that, regardless of the athlete’s nationality, they appear on the front page because they are sporting references. This leads us to the second conclusion: sports heroes’ status is still hegemonically male, as Giuliano et al. reported in 2007. Although the content analysis of the texts allows us to affirm that in women’s sports news coverage, sportswomen are trivialised by accentuating their physical attractiveness, feminine traits, or personal lives, as could be seen in the past in some media, they continue to hold a place on the Olympic podium. The athletes have managed to add medals to the Spanish medal tally with their sporting success and increase national pride during the Olympic Games. As can be seen in Marca’s information in the days before the start of the Rio 2016 Games and the reports on the women’s Elliot 8 team and Carolina Marín, the female athletes’ inspiring role models are still male athletes.

The content analysis and critical reading of the selected news samples have allowed us to investigate the journalistic treatment of women’s sports success in the context of the Olympic Games. Future research would be relevant to compare these results by using methodological tools such as in-depth focus groups or surveys with sports newspapers’ managers and journalists.

7. Bibliographic references

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Alvesson, M., & Willmott, H. (2003). Studying management critically. London: Sage.

Angulo, M. (2007). Las imágenes de las deportistas en los medios de comunicación. Consejo Superior de Deportes. Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia. España. Retrieved in http://www.mujerydeporte.org/documentos/docs/articulo_imagen_mujer_deportista_en_medios.pdf

Asociación para la Investigación de los Medios de Comunicación (AIMC). Estudio General de Medios. Retrieved in https://www.aimc.es/egm/que-es-el-egm/

ASPIC-Comunicación para la Dirección de Juventud y Deportes del Gobierno Vasco (2015). Presencia y tratamiento del deporte femenino en la prensa generalista vasca y en periódicos de información deportiva. Euskadi: Dirección de Juventud y Deportes del Gobierno Vasco. Retrieved in https://es.slideshare.net/Irekia/estudio-presencia-mujer-deporte-global-castpara-webbaja?from_action=save

Birrell, S. (2000). Feminist theories for sport. In J. Coakley & E. Dunning (Eds.), Women, sport, and culture (pp. 221-244). London: Sage.

Bissell, K.L., & Duke, A.M. (2007). Bump, set, spike: An analysis of commentary and camera angles of women’s beach volleyball during the 2004 Summer Olympics. Journal of Promotion Management, 13(1/2), 35-53.