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World :: Australian Male Olympians Get Better Flights Than Women

Female Australian and Japanese Olympians are being consigned to economy on the long-haul flight to London - while their male counterparts are getting first-class treatment.

The Australian women's basketball team, the Opals, have said they had different travel arrangements to the men.

The men's team - the Boomers - flew in business class, while the women were booked in economy.

They did however get a last-minute upgrade to premium economy.

It is not just Australian female athletes who found themselves at the back of the plane while the men turned left - into first class - as they boarded.

Japan's female soccer players also flew economy while the male team went business class, despite the women being more successful than the men on the pitch.

"I guess it should have been the other way around," World Cup player Homare Sawa, 33, told Japanese media.

"Even just in terms of age, we are senior," she said.

Basketball Australia has denied sexism, telling the Sydney Morning Herald the players' average heights determined their seating.

"Different factors are taken into account when organising travel arrangements for our national teams - height and size being a primary consideration," a spokesperson said.