Olympic athletes join in on the ANA Inspiring Women in Sports Conference

The ANA Inspiration will tee-off this week in Rancho Mirage.

Golf’s first major of the year is staying true to its name, with a conference full of inspiring women.

This is the first time the woman’s golf tournament brought together industry leaders to celebrate women in sports.

And it comes, just after the former director of the BNP Paribas Open made headlines, saying women ride on the coattails of men.

Lindsey Vonn, Kristi Yamaguchi, Abby Wambach and Missy Franklin are just a few of the of the female athletes joining in on the conference.

“Strides are definitely being made and I think it’s going to continue to get better,” Yamaguchi said.

The conference kicked off with a message from the founder and president of the Huffington Post, Arianna Huffington.

She said for anyone, not just women, in order to be successful, we need to take care of ourselves.

Panelists talked about balancing motherhood and their careers and their secrets to success.

For Yamaguchi she said she just wants women to be fairly compensated.

“I think it’s just to be seen to be heard as an athlete, not just a female athlete. It’s sad that we feel like we have to prove ourselves,” Yamaguchi said.

As for recent comments made by former BNP Paribas CEO and Tournament Director Raymond Moore, Wambach said they were uneducated.

She said it’s important what happened after.

“What I’d like to focus on is the conversation we have now, versus 15 years ago. People are appalled, people are so appalled that he resigned,” Wambach said.

Huffington, leaving everyone with her secret to success, saying failure is not the opposite of success, it’s the stepping stone to success.

This conference setting the tone for the first day of play this Thursday.