Croatian high jumping great Blanka Vlasic spent her career measured in centimetres and clean jumps, but the double Olympic medallist believes the most significant leap in women's sport has come from something less quantifiable - visibility.
The 42-year-old, who claimed Olympic silver in Beijing in 2008 and bronze in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, told Reuters that increased exposure of women's struggles and achievements had elevated female competitors as public figures on a par with their male counterparts.
"Women athletes are very strong public figures, as strong as men," said Vlasic, the International Event Ambassador for the TCS World 10K Bengaluru.
"Visibility of women's athletes, their struggles, of the things they need to deal with and go through while becoming top athletes are now themes and subjects that we talk about and make us value women's sport even more."
The two-time world champion said greater visibility also brought responsibility for governing bodies to ensure transparency, particularly around eligibility rules in women's competitions.
The International Olympic Committee last month announced that women's events at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics will include a one-time genetic screening, making only biological females eligible for women's events.
World Athletics had moved in that direction last year when it introduced a one-time genetic test at World Championships in Tokyo, setting a precedent later reflected in the IOC's approach.
"In sport, things need to be clear and transparent. The women's needs, categories need to be protected in that way," she said.
"So if we are competing in a certain category, we all need to have the same conditions to compete in it."
Standing 1.93 metres tall, Vlasic was a dominant figure in women's high jump for more than a decade, winning two world indoor gold medals and three World Athletics Final golds.
Her career, however, was repeatedly disrupted by injuries, including long-term Achilles problems, before she retired in 2021.
Now moving into endurance running, Vlasic said the shift from explosive power to long-distance discipline had been challenging but rewarding.
"My whole life was about explosive short exercises. And now I have long distance running, which is not explosive and it's a little bit slower," she said.
"But for me, it's something that I never did before and therefore it's a challenge and I like to challenge myself in areas that I am not good at."
The World 10K Bengaluru will take place on Sunday.