Exercise pertains to all types of physical activity from Olympic athletes to local soft ball teams.

Every athlete deserves the right to play on a level playing field, from beginner to amateur to elite.

Exaggerated perceptions about the differences between men and women in sport, far exceed the reality. A point illustrated by the Invisible Players video below.

Endurance sports, such as long distance running and swimming provide further evidence of the exaggerated difference between male and female athletes.

Photo by AMR Image/iStock / Getty Images
Photo by AMR Image/iStock / Getty Images

Pam Reed was 41 when she beat all men to win the Badwater 135 Ultramarathon.

Diana Nyad was 64 when she became the first person to swim from Cuba to Florida.

In open water distance swimming women regularly perform better than their male counterparts.

Open Water Source analyzed the official times of athletes in various open water swims including the one-mile RCP Tiburon Mile, the 10K Little Red Lighthouse Swim and the Catalina Channel. As the distances increase, the women improve strongly relative to their male colleagues, but at all distances, the comparative differences are small.

Equality is slowly emerging in previously male dominated sports. The short video below highlights the progress being made in Powerlifting.