When the outspoken Chinese swimmer Fu Yuanhui casually told reporters at the Olympics that she was suffering from period pain during a swimming relay, her comments raised eyebrows and lit up Twitter.
While the swimmer was both widely praised and mildly rebuked for openly speaking about her period, it was a rare public acknowledgement of a topic that is much discussed in private among female athletes. Does a woman’s menstrual cycle affect her performance as an athlete?
It’s an issue that is only beginning to be rigorously studied by science. Menstruation is never absent from the many sports in which women compete, but for the most part it has remained a taboo topic. To read more from GRETCHEN REYNOLDS, click here.