Women in Sports

Just saw Venus clinching the Wimbledon title. Not really a great match in my opinion. But, sadly, it will still go down as one of the greatest women's finals in history as it is the longest women's finals in Wimbledon in the Open era. The previous record was 2 hours 28 minutes and I think this one exceeded that by around 10 minutes. That set me wondering why exactly is the women's game limited to 3 sets while the men play 5 sets? Watching this game, it was clear extending the women's game to 5 sets is not an option as both Venus and Davenport were exhausted in the middle of the 3rd set itself!

For that matter, consider other sports, says athletics. The world records set by women in all track and field events are worse than the bests set by their men counterparts in the corresponding events. In fact, if I remember right, I think the distance for the marathon is lesser for women compared to the distance run by men. I guess the same is seen in swimming as well. So, what exactly is it that limits women? Is it something intrinsic about the biological setup of the human female body? I can't imagine the reason being the domination of men in the social sphere! Or, are women just lazy?! ;) Hope someone will be able to offer some insight on this.

Cheers,
Harsha