Canadian women's right to participate in competitive sports has been neither automatic nor easily won. They have had to contend with medical concerns about their "femininity," opposition by self-appointed moral guardians of society to the idea of women performing in front of male spectators, dress restrictions, inequities in funding and facilities, and lack of support even in their own athletic associations. All these obstacles conspired to exclude women, especially in high performance sports. Winning the …showed first 75 words of 1658 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1658 total…dal final. 1997 - The fourth women's World Championship is held in Kitchener, Ont., it serves as the qualifying event for the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano. Canada wins gold. 1997 - The top 28 players in Canada centralize in Calgary, Alberta for 5 months of pre-Olympic training. 1998 - Women's hockey makes its first appearance in the Winter Olympic Games with the U.S.A. winning first Olympic gold. 1999 - Canada captures its fifth straight World Championship in Espoo Finland.