As part of Gender Equality Month, the International Canoe Federation is profiling five influential female leaders from each continent that are blazing a trail for women in the sport. Next up is ICF Board member and Oceania Canoe Association Secretary General Danielle Woodward.
Standing on the podium in La Seu d’Urgell 33 years ago, Danielle Woodward had achieved something that no other Australian woman had before.
Woodward had become the first female paddler in Olympic history to win a medal in canoeing for Australia courtesy of her kayak silver at Barcelona 1992.
It was a moment which put Canoe Slalom in the limelight in Australia, boosting the profile of the sport ahead of Sydney staging the Olympic Games in 2000.
It also laid the platform for other women including superstar sisters Jessica Fox and Noemie Fox to go on to succeed on the Olympic stage.
“I was the first medallist ever in slalom for Australia and I was the first female medallist in canoeing for Australia,” said Woodward, when reflecting on her Olympic silver medal.
“It was such a big thing as Canoe Slalom had just got back into the Olympics and the sport was really kicking off in Australia.
“We got the slalom course in Penrith, not as a direct result of my medal but because we had brought the sport into the mainstream.
“Now I look at the Fox sisters and their influence in Australia is enormous.
“It’s wonderful because now I go around and when people ask about what I did, all I have to say is that I used to do what Jess Fox does.
“It’s lovely and I am very proud.
“I feel like I’m a pioneer so to see that not just carried on but pushed so far forward, it’s a really nice feeling.”
The Fox sisters have become household names in Australia after their phenomenal performances in Paris last year, with Jessica winning golds in canoe and kayak to take her Olympic title tally to three and Noemie becoming the first female athlete to capture the kayak cross crown at the Games.
Gender equality was achieved in canoeing for the second successive Olympic Games with the inclusion of the women’s C1 at Tokyo 2020 helping to redress the balance.
Ensuring parity in the number of male and female paddlers at the Games delights Woodward who has seen the balance shift over the years.
“I was on the Australian Olympic team in 1992 when there was just me and the rest were men – that was it,” said Woodward, who competed at Barcelona 1992, Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000.
“Then in Atlanta four years later, we were allowed to have two per class so there was another female and we had a female coach.
“So we had three women but there were still six or so men.
“The equality that we have now is great with the introduction of the women’s C1.
“I used to paddle C1, and I would have loved to have competed in it at World Championships level, but it wasn’t available to us.
“Now we see women’s C1 and kayak cross on the programme which is fabulous.”
Woodward worked as a national coach and selector before being elected as President and Chair of Australian Canoeing, now named Paddle Australia.
Holding the role between 2007 and 2016, Woodward set out with the task of leading a more diverse Board at the national governing body.
“When I was head of Paddle Australia, I changed our constitution, so we had to have a minimum of 40 per cent of males and females on the Board so it was about having gender balance,” said Woodward.
“It gives you a better Board because you have got a diversity of thinking.
“I said at the time that we have 50 per cent women in the country so I am sure we can find them.
“There are a lot of capable women out there.
“The Board at the ICF is incredibly respectful, and our President Thomas Konietzko is great at listening to everything we have to say.”
Woodward has been a member of the ICF Board of Directors since 2018 after securing the role of Secretary General of the Oceania Canoe Association which is led by Maree Burnett of New Zealand.
Alongside her career in canoeing, Woodward spent almost four decades working in the Australian Federal Police, specialising in organised crime, drugs, fraud and human trafficking.
During this time, Woodward also saw a change in attitude towards women in the police force and an increase in female representation in leading positions.
“When I started working in the fraud squad, I would get cups of coffee, I didn’t even have a name,” said Woodward.
“The inspector would come up to us and say ‘Frank, this is your file, you and your offsider can go to work on this.
“I was very capable, but I just wasn’t given the opportunities.
“I spend a lot of time, particularly with younger officers, teaching them about why affirmative action was appropriate at the time.
“It was because of the inequity that women faced as there was no way that they could show that they were equal.
“I was in the federal police for 38 years and we moved forward really quickly over this time.
“I retired from the police last year and I believe the AFP had 42 per cent women in senior executive roles.”
Woodward is pleased with the strides taken towards gender equality in canoeing and policing but insists that they must continue to make steps forward.
“International Women’s Day on March 8 is really important as you have got to continue to communicate because you can regress,” said Woodward.
“We can say we have done this, we have done that but it’s easy to slip back so we have to keep raising awareness.”
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