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British cycling star Sophie Capewell wants to break stereotypes and certain prejudices. Capewell believes that there must be more talk about 'periods' in women's sports. "It was always taboo," Capewell told Eurosport.com "When you were a junior and you were on your period, no one does talk about it.
Then it becomes this horrible 'oh, what happens?' I used to swim and no one used to speak about it.
That is another thing in itself because you have to use a tampon when you are swimming.
If more people can talk about it, hopefully, young girls growing up will not drop out of sport because there is a high percentage of girls who drop out, I think between the ages of 14 and 17.
If we can keep them in, and it is not because of a period problem or because of anything to do with growing up, that is huge.
I was contacted by another athlete about a campaign that is 'call it what it is, and say period'
It is taking away the stigma of the word 'period' and what it means.
If we use euphemisms, it takes away the power that it has. Young girls will know that it is normal, and we can empower a change in knowledge and understanding of the effect it can have for women in sport."
Periods
Women have much more problems training during their period, and it is not easy for them to be focused.
"It is not as straightforward as with the guys, unfortunately. I don't think they can track us in a straight line," she said.
"I think there are certain times in the month when we are more susceptible to injury. When people are on their period, it can mean that training is harder or you feel the effects more.
"There has not necessarily been the same amount of research done as there should have been.
"We would like to see more knowledge and power going forward in what we can do as female athletes and how we can train better because of our periods."