1900 Summer Olympics

The **1900 Summer Olympics** (), officially called the **Games of the II Olympiad**, were held in Paris, France. The games went from 14 May to 28 October 1900. The games were part of the 1900 Exposition Universelle (Paris World's Fair). The sports events were not well planned. The games were not thought to be a success. In total, there were 1,226 athletes. These athletes were played in 19 different sports. 720 of the 997 athletes were from France. France won the most gold, silver, and bronze awards. U.S won the 2nd most awards. Britain won the 3rd most awards.

This was the first Olympic Games where women competed. The sailor Hélène de Pourtalès was the first woman to win an Olympic game.

The 1900 Olympic Games were also very unusual. There were many events that were only at this Olympics. These events were angling, motor racing, ballooning, cricket, croquet, Basque pelota, 200m swimming obstacle race and underwater swimming. This was also the only Olympic Games to use live animals as a target in shooting.

## Sports

Weightlifting and wrestling were not in the 1900 Olympics, even though they were in the 1896 Summer Olympics. However, 12 new sports were added. Croquet was the only sport where only French players played. The number of events is in parentheses.

## Venues

There were 14 venues (or places) at the 1900 Summer Olympics.

|width="40%"|Venue|class="unsortable" width="45%"|Sports|width="10%"|Capacity|class="unsortable"|Ref.|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|7th arrondissement (Place de Breteuil)|Equestrian|align="right"|Not listed.|align="center"||||
|Bois de Boulogne|Croquet, Polo, Tug of war|align="right"|Not listed.|align="center"||||
|Bois de Vincennes|Archery|align="right"|Not listed.|align="center"||||
|Boulogne-Billancourt|Shooting|align="right"|Not listed.|align="center"||||
|Compiègne|Golf|align="right"|Not listed.|align="center"||||
|Croix-Catelan Stadium|Athletics|align="right"|Not listed.|align="center"||||
|Le Havre|Sailing|align="right"|Not listed.|align="center"||||
|Meulan-en-Yvelines|Sailing|align="right"|Not listed.|align="center"||||
|Neuilly-sur-Seine|Basque pelota|align="right"|Not listed.|align="center"||||
|Puteaux|Tennis|align="right"|Not listed.|align="center"||||
|Satory|Shooting|align="right"|Not listed.|align="center"||||
|Seine|Rowing, Swimming, and Water polo|align="right"|Not listed.|align="center"||||
|Tuileries Garden|Fencing|align="right"|Not listed.|align="center"||||
|Vélodrome de Vincennes|Cricket, Cycling, Football, Gymnastics, and Rugby union|align="right"|Not listed.|align="center"||||

## Participating nations

There were 24 nations that sent athletes to compete at the Paris games.

## Medals

The 1900 Olympics is the only Olympic Games that had rectangle medals. These medals were made by . Gilt silver medals were given to 1st place in shooting, lifesaving, automobile racing and gymnastics. 2nd place silver medals were given in shooting, rowing, yachting, tennis, gymnastics, sabre, fencing, equestrian and athletics. 3rd place bronze medals were given in gymnastics, firefighting and shooting. In many sports, there were no medals given. Many of the prizes were cups or other trophies. After the Olympic Games, the International Olympic Committee gave the athletes gold, silver, and bronze medals to the athletes who were in 1st, 2nd or 3rd-place.

These are the top ten nations that won medals at the 1900 Games.

**Key**

## Notes

- The IOC used to say that there were 85 events, 24 nations, and 997 athletes. The Olympic historian and author, Bill Mallon, said that there 95 events. There were some events that had different rules. In some events, amateurs could not compete. In some events, not every country was allowed to compete. According to Mallon, these should still be Olympic events. In July 2021, the IOC said there was 95 events now, instead of 85. Because of this, they also put the number of countries as 26 and athletes as 1226. The IOC now says the 1900 Summer Olympics had 95 events, 26 nations, and 1226 athletes.

## Other websites

- Official Report
- GB Athletics website – Olympic Games Medallists – Other Sports – Demonstration & Unofficial Sports

## Infobox (olympic games)

- 1900
- Summer
- Olympics
- **image**: 1900 Olympic Games Poster Paris.jpg
- **image size**: 165
- **caption**: Poster for fencing at the 1900 Summer Olympics
- **host city**: Paris, France
- **nations**: 26
- **athletes**: 1226
- **events**: 95 in 19 Olympic sports, sports (21 disciplines)
- **opening**: 14 May 1900
- **closing**: 28 October 1900
- **stadium**: Vélodrome de Vincennes
- **prev**: 1896 Summer Olympics, Athens 1896
- **next**: 1904 Summer Olympics, St. Louis 1904