Aussie Olympic medalist urges more female bosses in sports

An Australian Olympic medalist is ralllying up support to get more women into leadership roles in sport and said on Thursday she hopes to lead by example.

Kim Crow, world champion rower and winner of silver and bronze medals at the London Olympics, said too many men are in charge of Australian sport organizations. She has set about changing that by taking on a role at Basketball ACT in Canberra where she hopes to develop her skills for a bigger role in the future.

"My role is more than just rowing a boat fast. I've realised that I really can make a difference," Crow told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).

"It seems we have a lot of women starting to break through the leadership ranks in sport, but very few at the very top. That's something that I really think needs to change."

Currently, almost all Australian sports are led by men, though women fill roles on most organizations' boards. The story is much the same across the world, with world football body FIFA having just three women, Moya Dodd, Sonia Bien Aime and Lydia Nsekera, on its 27-person Executive Committee.

Crow, who also works as a lawyer, said women needed to go the extra yard to secure high-profile jobs in sport.

"Having those extra skills and making sure you tick every box and do everything exceptionally well, is really important to be able to keep climbing the ladder," she said.

Crow remains optimistic that a change is occurring.

"I feel that both women and men are welcoming to the thought of having a female boss."

"You know our sport has 50 percent women participants, so it makes sense for the people representing them to be 50 percent women."