In 1919, Milliat asked the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) to include women's track and field athletics events in the 1924 Olympic Games, but they refused. She then became involved in organising the 1921 Women's Olympiad in Monte Carlo, an event regarded as a response to the refusal include women's events in the Olympics. Sport historian Florence Carpentier noted in 2018 that Milliat did not attend the 1921 event, and believes that Milliat created the Fédération Sportive Féminine Internationale (FSFI) and instituted the 1922 Women's World Games in opposition to the 1922 Women's Olympiad to ensure feminist control over women's international sports competitions. French Athletics Federation (FFA) archive records show that that Marcel Delabre, vice-president of the FFA and chair of the 1921 Women's Olympiad organising committee, saw the Women's Olympiad as a means for the FFA to control women's athletics. The 1921 Women's Olympiad took place on a pigeon shooting field, in the absence of a running track. In 1922, 300 athletes competed, representing seven nations. Further editions of the Women's Olympiad were held in 1923 and 1924.