The headline about the Olympics that sparked a huge debate on sexism

Katie Ledecky has had a good year.

Winning four Olympic gold medals and one silver, she set a world record in the 800-metre freestyle finals on Friday that people are still struggling to get their heads around.

Ledecky was almost half a pool length in front of the silver medallist when she won.

On that same night in Rio, Michael Phelps missed out on yet another gold medal when he was beaten by Singapore’s Joseph Schooling in the 100-metre butterfly event.

The two events collided when law professor Nancy Leong spotted a headline that essentially summarises the disparity between coverage of male and female Olympians.

Reactions to the headline have varied from outrage at what many claim is a clear gender bias towards male Olympic stars, whilst others have defended the newspaper by suggesting that Phelps’ loss was a more newsworthy event.

The headline was taken from the lead page of the sport’s section in The Eagle – a newspaper in Texas with a staff of around 24 people.

Leong told Buzzfeed news: ‘This seemed like a particularly clear cut example of a situation where you have two achievements, one by a man and one by a woman, that were given the wrong treatment.”

Ledecky, fortunately, has been focusing on enjoying her Olympics success, and retweeted a touching photo recreated with Phelps of the two meeting 10 years ago.

Read moreThis is the healthiest breakfast, according to an Olympic coach

Here's why Olympians bite their medals