The Battle of the Sexes, where the women’s field of elite runners competed against the men, didn’t pan out the way race officials had hoped. Even after giving the women an 18 and a half-minute head start, five of the Elite men finished before the top woman.
The interesting thing isn’t that the men won even when the women were given an unfair advantage. What’s interesting is the fact that the officials were hoping that a woman would win. But if stacking the deck so that a woman will win is the point, then why not go all the way and make it a five-hour head start?