Women at the Olympic Games Home > Events > Olympics > Summer > History > Women Women at the Olympic Games It has been a long road to equality for women at the Olympic Games, and it is still continuing. Participation in the Ancient Olympic Games was limited to male athletes only. The only way women were able to take part was to enter horses in the equestrian events. There are records of several winning women horse owners. As the owner of the horse teams, they were credited with the victory, though they were most likely not present at the events. Even in the early years of the modern Olympics, women were not well represented (consequently a rival Women's Olympics was held). Women participated for the first time at the 1900 Paris Games with the inclusion of women's events in lawn tennis and golf. Women's athletics and gymnastics debuted at the 1928 Olympics. Over time more women's events were added. In 2012, women's boxing was introduced, resulting in no remaining sports that do not include events for women. Equality in the available sports is one thing, but in many countries women do not have equal rights to participate in sports and the opportunity to participate in the Olympic Games.

Prior to the 2012 Olympics in London, three Muslim countries have never before sent a female athlete: Qatar, Brunei, and Saudi Arabia. However, they all bowed to IOC pressure and sent female athletes to London. Now every national Olympic committee has sent women to the Olympic Games, a small step. Milestones At the first modern Olympic Games in Athens 1896 , no women competed, as de Coubertin felt that their inclusion would be "impractical, uninteresting, unaesthetic, and incorrect." Women first competed at the 1900 Paris Games. Women were allowed to compete in lawn tennis and golf, though there were three French women competing in croquet and there was at least one woman sailor as part of mixed crews. It is commonly believed that first woman to win an Olympic event was England's Charlotte Cooper, who won the tennis singles title, however Swiss sailor Hélène de Pourtalès won a gold medal as part of a team in sailing earlier than this.

(see more firsts , and more on Pourtalès ) Here are the first women competitors in the Modern Olympic Games of 1900, in chronological order were May 22 - Helen de Pourtales, Switzerland (Yachting) May 31 - Elvira Guerra, France (Equestrian). There may have been another woman also competing in the equestrian events. Jun 28 - Mme Ohnier, Madame Depres, and Mme Filleaul Brohy, France (Croquet) July 11 - winner Charlotte Cooper, Great Britain (Tennis) plus other female competitors. Oct 3 - winner Margaret Abbott, USA (Golf) plus other female competitors. Women competed in swimming events for the first time in 1912, but none of them were from America, which did not allow its female athletes to compete in events without long skirts. The first women's swimming gold medal was won by the Australian Sarah 'Fanny' Durack, who won the 100m freestyle in 1912.

In 1928, women competed in track and field events for the first time; however, so many collapsed at the end of the 800-meter race that the event was banned until 1960. Women's shooting events were first included in the Olympics in 1984. There were three events, three position rifle, air rifle and sport pistol. In 1996, a women's only sport was introduced - Softball (softball is no longer part of the Olympic program) The 2000 Olympics was the first time that women were allowed to compete in the Olympics in weightlifting. A women's wrestling competition was introduced in 2004. Women compete in freestyle wrestling , but not greco-roman. There are only two Olympic sports where men and women compete directly against each other; equestrian and sailing , though in sailing it is now only in one event. Tennis (in early Games in since 2012) and Badminton (since 1996) have mixed doubles events.

Qatar, Brunei and Saudi Arabic all sent female participants to the London 2012 Olympic Games, meaning now every national Olympic committee will have sent women to the Olympic Games. With the addition of women's boxing at the 2012 London Games, there are men and women competing in all Olympic sports. However, there are still two sporting disciplines that are solely for women: synchronized swimming and rhythmic gymnastics. In cycling in 2012, for the first time men and women competed in the same number of events in all cycling disciplines. However, women have shorter distances for some events. In Rio 2016, 44% of medals were be awarded in women's events, the highest ever. In 1984, the figure was only just over 25%. Great Female Olympic Achievements In 1948, Dutch athlete Fanny Blankers-Koen won four gold medals, the equivalent of the medals Jesse Owens had won twelve years earlier. She held the world record in the high and long jumps, but did not compete in those as the rules prohibited women from competing in more than three individual events.

British Equestrian, Lorna Johnstone was 70 years and 5 days old when she rode at the 1972 Games, thus being the oldest woman ever to compete at an Olympic Games. Joan Benoit of the USA won the first women's Olympic marathon in Los Angeles in 1984. Soviet Maria Gorokhovskaya - unhindered by the limits set on female competitors at earlier Games - in 1952 set a record for most medals won by a woman in one Olympics, with two golds and five silvers. US Shooter Margaret Murdock won a silver medal in rifle competition (which at that time included men and women) at the 1976 Olympics. She was the first woman to win a medal in shooting at the Olympic Games. Share: The Fight To Establish The Women's Marathon Race Back to History & Records | Previous Chapter | Next Chapter By the 1970s, the Olympic Marathon had come a long way from the dusty roads of Athens. Yet women were still not allowed to compete and the struggle to establish a women's Olympic Marathon was itself something of a long-distance race.

Before the 1980s, there were no women's distance races in the Olympics. In the Moscow Games, the longest race for women was the 1,500 meters, which had been instituted in 1972. Women had been excluded from track and field competition altogether until 1928, when the longest race was the 800 meters. Despite a world record by winner Lina Radke of Germany, many of the competitors had not properly prepared for the race and several collapsed in exhaustion. This led Olympic organizers to consider the race too strenuous for women. The president of the IOC, Count Henri Baillet-Latour, even suggested the elimination of all women's competition from the Games. Such a drastic move was not taken, but until 1960, when the 800 meters reappeared, no race over 200 meters was contested by women in the Olympics. This is not to say there was no tradition of women's long-distance running. Women had been forbidden from participating in the ancient Olympics. A woman who was caught even as a spectator at the Games could face execution. But women in ancient Greece held their own festival to honor the goddess Hera every five years.

Only one athletic event was held-a short footrace. When the Olympics were revived in 1896, women were again excluded. But, in March of 1896, Stamatis Rovithi became the first woman to run a marathon when she covered the proposed Olympic course from Marathon to Athens. The following month, a woman named Melpomene presented herself as an entrant in the Olympic Marathon. Race organizers denied her the opportunity to compete. Undiscouraged, Melpomene warmed up for the race out of sight. When the starter's gun sounded, she began to run along the side of the course. Eventually she fell behind the men, but as she continued on, stopping at Pikermi for a glass of water, she passed runners who dropped out of the race in exhaustion. She arrived at the stadium about an hour and a half after Spiridon Louis won the race. Barred from entry into the now empty stadium, she ran her final lap around the outside of the building, finishing in approximately four and a half hours.

One Greek newspaper wrote that the Olympic organizers were discourteous to disallow Melpomene's entry into the race, but nonetheless it would be nearly a century before another woman would run the Olympic Marathon. Violet Piercy of Great Britain was the first woman to be officially timed in the marathon, when she clocked a time of 3:40:22 in a British race on October 3, 1926. Due largely to the lack of women's marathon competition, that time stood as an unofficial world record for thirty-seven years. On December 16, 1963, American Merry Lepper ran a time of 3:37:07 to improve slightly on Piercy's record. Still, no highly competitive times were recorded simply because there was not women's competition in the race. Before 1972, women had been barred from the most famous marathon outside the Olympics-Boston. That rule did not keep women from running, though. In 1966, Roberta Gibb hid behind a bush at the start of the Boston Marathon, sneaking into the field and finishing the race in an unofficial time of 3:21:25.

She was the first woman known to complete the arduous Boston course. Gibb had been inspired to run by the return of her race entry with a note saying that women were not physically capable of running a marathon. "I hadn't intended to make a feminist statement," said Gibb. "I was running against the distance [not the men] and I was measuring myself with my own potential." The following year, number 261 in the Boston Marathon was assigned to entrant K.V. Switzer. In lieu of the pre-race medical examination, Switzer's coach took a health certificate to race officials and picked up the number. Not until two miles into the race did officials realize that Switzer was a woman, twenty-year-old Kathrine Switzer of Syracuse University. Race director Will Cloney and official Jock Semple tried to grab Switzer and remove her from the race, or at least remove her number, but her teammates from Syracuse fended them off with body blocks. Switzer eventually finished the race after the race timers had stopped running, in 4:20. Switzer had not used her initials on the entry form to deceive the race officials. She was merely a fan of J.D.

Salinger and liked the sound of her initials. While Switzer was creating a stir with her unauthorized entry, Roberta Gibb again ran the race, this time being forced off the course just steps from the finish line, where her time would have been 3:27:17. The photographs of race officials chasing after Switzer that appeared in the national papers the next day brought the issue of women's long-distance running to the public. Race officials defended their actions, saying they were only enforcing rules that forbade men and women form competing in the same race and barred women from races of more than one and a half miles. "I think it's time to change the rules," said Switzer. "They are archaic." Switzer's story and the surrounding publicity had made the quest for equality in road racing for women a political issue. Coming as it did in the midst of the women's liberation movement, it galvanized women in the belief that it was time, as Switzer had said, to change the rules. Slowly, the rules did begin to change.

On August 31,1971 Adrienne Beames of Australia became the first women to run a sub-three-hour marathon, smashing that barrier with a time of 2:46:30. In 1972, women were allowed to compete officially in the Boston Marathon for the first time. As running became a more popular sport during the 1970s, more women began competing in marathons. On October 28, 1973, the first all women's marathon was held in Waldniel, West Germany. The success of that race was built on the following October when Dr. Ernst Ban Aaken, a West German and a strong supporter of women's running, sponsored the first Women's International Marathon Championship in Waldniel. Forty women from seven countries competed in the event. Two years later, when the race was held again, the forty-five finishers represented nine different countries. Still, with the 1980 Summer Olympic Games on the horizon, Olympic organizers had given no serious consideration to creating a women's marathon. Two reasons were often given for this exclusion. First, some experts claimed that women's health would be damaged by long-distance running.

This theory was proved false not only by medical studies, but also by the success of women marathoners during the 1970s. Second, the Olympic Charter stated that to be included in the Games, a women's sport must be widely practiced in at least twenty-five countries on at least two continents (for men's events the requirement was fifty countries on three continents). Women's marathoning, the Olympic organizers argued, was simply not popular enough to include. In the late 1970s, Kathrine Switzer, retired form competitive running, led the way toward the inclusion of a women's marathon in the Olympics. In 1977, Switzer, then director of the Women's Sports Foundation, met an executive for the Avon cosmetics company who told her the company was interested in sponsoring a running event for women. Switzer wrote a seventy-five page proposal describing how Avon might sponsor a series of events, and the company liked her idea so much they hired her to plan the races. The first Avon International Marathon was held in Atlanta, Georgia, in March of 1978, drawing women from nine countries.

The 1979 Avon Marathon, held in Waldniel, attracted over 250 world class entrants from twenty-five countries. The theory that women's marathoning was not popular enough to become an Olympic sport was dramatically disproved. Still, the drive for inclusion in the Olympics was far from over. Norwegian runner Grete Waitz won the women's division of the New York City Marathon in 1979 for the second year in a row, crossing the finish line in a time of 2:27:33. She thus became the first woman to run the distance in under 2:30. The New York Times ran an editorial pointing out that in just fifteen years the women's record had been lowered by one hour. In that same editorial, the Times called for the creation of an Olympic Marathon for women. Although Waitz herself was not active in the drive to create a women's Olympic Marathon, her successes were often cited by supporters of the race.

In 1979, marathoner Jaqueline Hansen, who had broken the 2:40 barrier in 1975, teamed with other runners form around the world to form the International Runners Committee to lobby for the inclusion of women's long-distance races in international competition. The committee received support from the Nike shoe company, which ran full-page advertisements in several running magazines calling for a women's Olympic Marathon. The marathon was not the only race being supported, however. The race that seemed to have the best chance for inclusion in the 1984 Games was the 3,000 meters. Some lobbyists felt that the addition of women's races should be made gradually, with the 3,000 meters being added first, followed by the 5,000 meters, 10,000 meters, and then the marathon. A central player in the drive for the inclusion of women's distance races in the Olympics was Adriaan Paulen, president of IAAF. One of the responsibilities of the IAAF is recommending new track and field events to the IOC.

When the IAAF Congress met in San Juan, Puerto Rico in 1979, Paulen pointed out that he had long been fighting to get the women's 3,000 meters included in the Olympics. But, he warned that fighting for the other races at the same time might weaken the case for the 3,00 meters or any distance race to be added. "Take things one step at a time" seemed to be the conventional wisdom. Meanwhile, on the roads the case for a women's Olympic Marathon was slowly building. Not only had the Avon races brought international attention and participation to the sport, but the women's marathon was becoming legitimate in other ways as well. The race had received sanction by the American Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) in 1972, and the AAU's first national marathon for women had been held in 1974. More importantly, the IAAF, an international rather than national organization, had made plans to include women's marathon competitions at future World Cup meets, beginning at the 1981 meet in Rome, and at the World Track and Field Championships beginning in 1983.

The 1982 European Marathon Championships, another IAAF event, which would be run on the historic Marathon to Athens course, would also include a women's division. Though the IAAF was not ready to recommend the marathon to the IOC, it was poised to sanction the race in its own meets. Paulen hoped that the inclusion of the women's marathon in these prestigious international meets would lure runners from Eastern European countries into women's marathoning. Opposition from the Soviet Bloc had been one obstacle to Olympic sanction. The first women's marathon officially sanctioned by the IAAF was the Tokyo International, held in November of 1979. IAAF president Adriaan Paulen traveled to Tokyo to watch the race. To the surprise of many who had lobbied Paulen before, he was so impressed by the level of competition in Tokyo that he announced he would fully support the effort to institute a women's marathon in the Olympics and that he would lobby for 5,000 meters and 10,000 meters races as well. A short time later, the IAAF officially recommended to the IOC that a women's marathon be included in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.

Although endorsement by the IAAF was an important step toward the establishment if a women's marathon, many obstacles had yet to be overcome. One official from the Los Angeles planning committee claimed the Games were already too big for the inclusion of more events. An official with the IOC argued that the effects of marathon running on women's health needed further study. This second argument was rebutted by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) in January of 1980 when it issued an opinion statement saying that "there exists no conclusive scientific or medical evidence that long-distance running is contraindicated for the healthy, trained female athlete. The ACSM recommends that females be allowed to compete at the national and international level in the same distances in which their male counterparts compete. Powerful people were in favor of the new marathon, too. On the floor of the United States Senate, Sen. Nancy Kassebaum of Kansas introduced a resolution calling for the Senate's support of an Olympic Marathon and other long-distance races for women. Both Adriaan Paulen and president of the IOC Lord Killanin made personal statements in support of the race to the members of the IOC when the committee met during the Moscow Games in July of 1980.

The question of creating the new marathon race was deferred until the meeting of the IOC's Executive Board, however, in February of 1981. In the meantime, the third Avon International Marathon was held in London on the final day of the Moscow Olympics. Women from twenty-seven countries competed, and for the first time in history, five women finished below the 2:40 barrier. "Obviously, we think it's time a women's marathon was made part of the Olympics," said Kathrine Switzer, again the organizer of the race. "We're trying to prove to people that women are just as suited, or even more suitable, for marathoning as men." Switzer traveled to Los Angeles in February of 1981 when the Executive Board of the IOC was scheduled to meet. She knew the vote on the race could be close. The Board was made up of nine countries, eight of which were represented at the meeting. The Soviet Union openly opposed the creation of the race, and Switzer feared that Panama and Romania would side with their political ally. Spain, Japan, India, and New Zealand favored the race. Belgium appeared undecided. Five votes were needed for the resolution to pass.

On the morning of February 23, Switzer went to the hotel where the meeting was being held. Unsure what she could do to further her cause, she approached the delegate from Belgium in the hall and began to tell him all about the success of women's marathoning-the number of women competing, the quality of their races, their good health. The delegate took careful notes and then disappeared into the meeting. Unable to stand still while she waited for the result, Switzer went out for a six-mile run. At 6:30 that evening, the Executive Board of IOC announced that a women's marathon had been given its approval and would likely be included in the 1984 Summer Games in Los Angeles. The committee had even decided to ignore a rule stating that all new events had to be approved four years in advance of their inclusion in the Games. The Soviet Union was the only country to vote against the race. The struggle was almost over. All that remained was approval of the Executive Board's recommendation by the full membership of the IOC. In September of 1981, the IOC met in Baden-Baden, Germany and made several important decisions.

They elected the first women members of that body in its eighty-four year history. After a powerful speech by middle-distance runner Sebastian Coe they voted to allow the ruling federations for each Olympic sport set their own requirements for Olympic eligibility, clearing the way for marathoners and other athletes to receive prize and endorsement money while still remaining eligible for Olympic competition. In the midst of all these decisions, they voted on the recommendation of the Executive Board concerning the women's marathon race. Lost in the headlines about the end of amateurism at the Olympics and the selection of Seoul and Calgary for the 1988 Games was the fact that women had finally won the right to compete in an Olympic Marathon. From Olympic Marathon, Charlie Lovett. Copyright © 1997 by Charlie Lovett. Reproduced with permission of Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc. , Westport, CT. Amsterdam 1928 Summer Olympics - results & video highlights Official Reports arrow Symbolic fire For the first time, a symbolic fire was lit during the Games. The fire was lit in a cauldron that was placed at the top of a tower in the stadium, which had been designed by Jan Wils, a celebrated Dutch architect.

Olympic firsts At the Opening Ceremony, the team from Greece led the Parade of Nations, with the host Dutch team marching in last. Greece-first, hosts-last has been Olympic protocol ever since. The number of female competitors more than doubled as women were finally allowed to compete in gymnastics and athletics, and Asian athletes won gold medals for the first time. Winning streaks begin The team from India swept to victory in field hockey. Between 1928 and 1956, India’s men would win six straight gold medals in this event. Another winning streak also began in 1928, when Hungary earned the first of seven consecutive gold medals in team sabre fencing. Innocent times The actions of Australian rower Henry Pearce at Amsterdam have since become legend. He stopped midway through his quarter final to let a family of ducks pass, but still went on to win the race and eventually the gold medal. NOCs: 46 Athletes: 2,883 (277 women, 2,606 men) Events: 109 Media: n/a A symbolic fire For the first time, a symbolic fire was lit during the Games of the Olympiad.

The fire was lit in a cauldron that was placed at the top of a tower in the stadium which had been designed by Jan Wils. Return of Germany Germany participated in the Games once again, after 16 years of absence, since the 1912 Games. More events open to women Although women had participated in the past in tennis, golf, archery, figure skating, sailing, swimming and fencing, 1928 marked the first time that one women’s artistic gymnastics event and a small number of women’s athletics events were included on the programme. Ceremonies Amsterdam 1928. Henri Denis (NED) pronounces the Olympic oath in the medium of the carriers of the flags of the nations. Official opening of the Games by: HRH Prince Hendrik Lighting the Olympic Flame by: A symbolic fire at an Olympic Summer Games was first lit in 1928 in Amsterdam. Olympic Oath by: Official Oath by: The officials' oath at an Olympic Summer Games was first sworn in 1972 in Munich. On the obverse, the traditional goddess of victory, holding a palm in her left hand and a winner’s crown in her right.

A design used since the 1928 Games in Amsterdam, created by Florentine artist Giuseppe Cassioli (ITA -1865-1942) and chosen after a competition organised by the International Olympic Committee. For these Games, the picture of victory is accompanied by the specific inscription: "IXe OLYMPIADE AMSTERDAM 1928". On the reverse, an Olympic champion carried in triumph by the crowd, with the Olympic stadium in the background. N.B: From 1928 to 1968, the medals for the Summer Games were identical. The Organising Committee for the Games in Munich in 1972 broke new ground by having a different reverse which was designed by a Bauhaus representative, Gerhard Marcks. More info It shows a runner in action holding a laurel branch, symbol of victory. In the bottom part, wavy lines in red, white and blue represent the colours of the Dutch national flag. The document “The Ninth Olympiad: being the official report of the Olympic Games of 1928 celebrated at Amsterdam” was published quite late, and for the first time in three separate editions: French, English and Dutch.

The topics covered were now standard, and those addressed in this work would serve as the basis for future editions. First time at the Olympics 1st Olympic Congress : 16 - 24. June 1894 Paris (Founding Congress) Subject: Study and Diffusion of the Principles of Amateurism and Revival of the Olympic Games. 1896 Athens First Modern Olympic Games held in Athens. Statistic first games The Olympic Hymn of 1896. The text is by Kostis Palamas, the music is by Spyros Samaras. It was presented for the first time in the opening ceremony of the first modern Olympic Games. 1900 Paris Women participate for the first time First female winner: Charlotte Cooper of Great Britain in singles tennis. 1904 St. Louis In 1904, for the first time, medals were awarded to the first three people to finish each event--a gold medal for first place, a silver medal for second, and a bronze medal for third. At the Athens Games 1896 the winners in each event received silver medals, as there was not enough money left to mint them in gold.

1906 Athens The Olympic oath Defeated in WWI, Austria, Bulgaria, Germany, Hungary and Turkey are not allowed to participate. First time of innovation at the Antwerp Games was the releasing of thousands of white doves at the opening ceremony as a symbol of peace among nations. 1924 Paris In 1924 for the first time, the Games returned to a former venue. The Paris Games were the fist to have an Olympic Village for the athletes. Olympic motto first officially used. The president of France, Gaston Doumergue, opened the first Games to adopt the slogan: "Citius, Altius, Fortius" (Swifter, Higher, Stronger) It was pronounced for the first time from the Dominican father Eric Dinon and was adopted in the 1924 Paris Olympic Games. 1924 - Technology begins to win a place at the Olympic Games with the event's first live radio broadcast. First Olympic Winter Games held in St. Moritz. 1928 Amsterdam First Olympic Flame to be lit and burned throughout whole Olympic Games Olympic flame burned at the stadion for the first time ever. First introduction of large results board.

The objekt of a score board was to publish the results of the events immediately. Women allowed to compete in track and field events. First time Greece led parade of nations. Slow-motion film techniques used to judge close finishes; women's track and field competitions held for first time. The photography rights were sold to a commercial firm. 1932 Los Angeles Introduction of three-tiered victory stand. Kirby Two-Eyed Electric Timing Camera The stop-watch and photo finish were first used at the Olympic Games in Los Angeles, California. When officials found it impossible to determine the winner of the 100 meters race by naked eye and stop watch alone, newsreel film was analyzed to determine that Eddie Tolan (U.S.) was the gold medal winner. First time the national anthem from the winner's country was played and the national flag of medallists raised. 1936 Berlin 1948 London Fanny Blankers-Koen of Netherlands is first woman to win 4 gold medals in a single Games. 1952 Helsinki The first Olympic coin was minted to mark the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki, Finland, 500 markka.

1956 Melbourne First Games to be held in the Southern Hemisphere (Melbourne) Athletes entered during the closing ceremony en masse for the first time to signify the friendship of the Games Although live television coverage of the Olympic Games was available internationally for the first time, Europe and the US boycotted the sale of television rights to the Games. As a result, only six pre-recorded, half-hour programs were accessible on a few independent channels in the U.S. 1960 Rome First live transmission and first to have world-wide TV coverage Free of television rights boycotts, the summer Games held later that year in Rome were the first to be fully televised. 1964 Tokyo Time keeping and photo finish officially used. First live colour pictures. Opening ceremonies broadcast via satellite to U. S. for first time. Results were stored on computers for the first time, marking the permanent pervasion of computer technology into the Olympics Games. 1968 Mexico City Professionals allowed to compete in the Games. 1988 Seoul Christa Luding-Rothenburger became the first, and only, athlete to win winter and summer Olympic Games medals in the same year. She competed in speed skating and cycling.

1992 Barcelona 1996 Atlanta 1996 - In conjunction with the Games in Atlanta, Georgia, the first-ever Olympic Games website received 189 million hits. 2000 Sydney First time North and South Korea entered the main Olympic stadium as one nation at the opening ceremony. Steven Redgrave became the first rower to win gold medals at five consecutive Olympic Games. Information technology was key to the running of the Games, and web hits during the Games in Sydney escalated to 11.3 billion. Potted History Potted History Some early history about women and the Olympics Married women were barred from the Ancient Olympic Games, but prostitutes or virgins were allowed to spectate. Kallipateria was the first female Olympic boxing coach in 440 BC. The first female Olympic champion was a Spartan princess called Kynisca, in 392 BC. She was also the first woman to become a champion horse trainer when her horses and chariot competed and won in the Ancient Olympic Games. Women had their own athletic games of Hera from about 1000 BC.

Pomegranites, symbols of fertiltiy, were prizes at the womens games, along with olive wreaths and a slice of a sacrificial cow. Women were originally the prizes in mens Ancient Olympic chariot races. In the first modern Olympics of 1896, women were not allowed to compete, but there was an unofficial competitor in the marathon, a poor Greek woman who became known as 'Melpomene'. Melpomenes real name was Stamati Revithi. She was not allowed to compete in the mens race, but ran by herself the next day. The final lap was completed outside the stadium as she was refused entry to the stadium. After her marathon run, athletics officials couldnt remember her name so they labelled her 'Melpomene', who is the Greek muse of Tragedy. Looking at Stamata Revithi, they could see only tragedy, not her extraordinary feat. Ballooning, croquet and golf (1900) were once Olympic events in which women competed. Please see Statistics for more information. 1900 was the year the World Exhibition was scheduled to take place in Paris, with celebrations and events akin to our own Millennium celebrations.

The Olympic Games were taking place at the same time, from 14th May to 28th October and were considered by many to be part of the World Exhibition. Some of the competitors did not know if they were in the Olympic Games or the World Fair. Happily for the women athletes of the time, the all male International Olympic Committee, who were very against women taking parts in sports, had little influence in Paris. The organisers of the World Exhibition seemed unconcerned about the rights and wrongs of women competing, so their presence was not an issue. To this day there is still confusion as to which events were Olympic and which were World Fair events. So, who were the first female Olympic competitors and champion? For a sport to be Olympic in 1900 it had to be an open sport, amateur and international, not handicapped and not motorised. The long-held view was that women took part in just two Olympic sports in 1900 - tennis and golf. Sports historians now accept that women were involved in the yachting. Old programmes of the Paris Exposition show that women also participated in ballooning, croquet, equestrianism, golf, tennis and yachting.

Bearing this in mind, we take the view that all women who took part in these sports were Olympians. Our view is that the first women competitors in the Modern Olympic Games of 1900 in chronological order were: Helen de Pourtales, Switzerland (Yachting), Elvira Guerra, France (Equestrianism), Mme Ohnier and Madame Depres, France (Croquet), Charlotte Cooper, Great Britain (Tennis), Margaret Abbott, USA (Golf), Madame Maison, France (Ballooning). The first gold medalists were: Helen de Pourtales (mixed event) and Charlotte Cooper (individual womens event). The first team medal was won by Great Britain in 1912, in the 4 x 100 metres freestyle relay. Womens boxing was included in the 1904 Olympic Games in St. Louis, USA, as a demonstration or exhibition sport. Archery also made its first appearance as an Olympic sport for women. In 1906, in the interim Games in Greece, Danish women took part in a gymnastics demonstration but women had to wait until 1928 before gymnastics became an official Olympic event.

The team gymnastic event continued until 1952 when an individual womens gymnastics event was introduced. In the 1952 and 1956 Olympic Games there was also a womens team portable apparatus event which was then discontinued. Tennis was the only sport in the interim Games for women but only Greek and French women took part. In 1912 a fifteen year old British schoolgirl entered the modern pentathlon event in the Stockholm Olympic Games, but her entry was rejected. The modern pentathlon for women is to be contested for the first time in the Olympic Games in Sydney 2000. Two swimming events and highboard diving for women were included in the Olympic Games of 1912. Fencing for women arrived in 1924. There was one event, the individual foil. Athletics provided the biggest hurdle of all for women to be accepted into Olympic competition. Women even set up their own Olympic Games during the early 1920s because they were so frustrated at the lack of acceptance. Eventually in 1928 in Amsterdam, the first women competed in 5 athletic events.

The successful womens athletic team from Great Britain chose to boycott the Olympics because they believed women should have been allowed to compete in more events. The first track and field gold medalist was sixteen year old Betty Robinson (USA) who won the 100 metres. Sadly, Betty died in May 1999. There were no women members of the International Olympic Committee from 1896 until 1981! Interesting Olympic Games Firsts Olympic Firsts Here are some of the 'firsts' that have occurred at the Olympic Games. See more Olympic Trivia . The FIRST Olympic Games for which we still have written records were held in 776 BCE (though it is generally believed that the Games had been going on for many years already). The FIRST Olympic champion in recorded history was a naked runner, Coroebus (a cook from Elis), who won the only event, the stade. The FIRST ever event of the modern Olympic Games was the 1st heat of the 100m, held on 6 April 1896.

The FIRST Olympic champion of the modern Olympic Games was James Brendan Connolly of United States, the winner of the triple jump (the triple jump was the first final event of the 1896 Olympics). The FIRST brothers to win Olympic gold medals were Americans John and Sumner Paine - they came first in the military pistol and free pistol shooting events respectively in 1896. The FIRST time women competed at the Olympic Games was in 1900 in Paris. It is commonly believed that the FIRST women to take part in the Olympic Games occurred on June 28, when French players Marie Ohnier and Mme Brohy participated in the 1900 croquet games. Actually another female, Swiss sailor Hélène de Pourtalès competed before then, on May 22, 1900. The FIRST female Olympic Champion was England's Charlotte Cooper, who won the tennis singles in 1900. However, she was not the first female Olympic gold medalist, as Swiss sailor Hélène de Pourtalès earlier won gold as part of a boat crew in the 1-2 ton class. The FIRST team sport added to the Olympics was Football in 1900.

The FIRST black athlete to compete at the Olympics was Constantin Henriquez de Zubiera, competing for France in 1900. The FIRST black athlete to win a gold medal was African-American John Taylor, who was part of the US relay team in athletics in 1908. the FIRST time the teams and competitors were representatives of countries and not of clubs or just individuals was in 1908. the FIRST time athletes marched into the stadium behind their nations' flags was in London 1908. the FIRST brother and sister to win Olympic medals were William Dod who won the men's archery competition, and his sister Charlotte 'Lottie' Dod who won the silver medal in the women's archery competition - in 1908. The FIRST time a swimming pool was used for swimming events was at the London Olympics in 1908. The FIRST Asian country to participate at the Olympic Games was Japan in the 1912 Stockholm Games. The FIRST women's swimming gold medal was won by the Australian Sarah 'Fanny' Durack, who won the 100m freestyle in 1912.

The FIRST Games to include competitors from all five continents was in 1912. The FIRST electronic automatic timing system and photo finish was introduced for the athletics track events in 1912. The FIRST twins to win Olympic Gold medals were the Swedish brothers Vilhelm Carlberg (3 golds) and Eric Carlberg (2 gold) in shooting in 1912. The FIRST death of an athlete at the Olympic Games was in Stockholm 1912. Portuguese runner Francisco Lazaro collapsed from sunstroke and heart trouble at the 29 km mark of the marathon, and died the next day. The FIRST Olympic Games in which the Olympic Oath was voiced was 1920. The FIRST Olympic Games in which doves were released to symbolize peace was 1920. The FIRST Olympic Games in which the Olympic Flag was flown was 1920. The FIRST (and only time) in Olympic history an event was held in two different countries was in 1920, for the 12-foot dinghy event in sailing.

The early races were held in Belgium, but the final two races in the event were held in the Netherlands, as the only two competitors in the event were Dutch. The FIRST time the Games returned to a former venue was in 1924 in Paris. The FIRST Winter Olympic Games were held in Chamonix, France in 1924. The FIRST Games to have an Olympic Village for the athletes was in Paris 1924. The FIRST person to win a medal in the same event in Summer and Winter Olympics was Gillis Grafström, when he won figure skating gold medals at the 1920 Olympics and at the first Winter Olympics in 1924. The FIRST Olympics to feature a 400 meter track was the Amsterdam Olympic Games in 1928, a distance that would become standard for tracks in the future. The FIRST time the Winter and Summer Games were held in different countries (Switzerland and the Netherlands respectively) was in 1928. The FIRST use a victory podium was in 1932. The FIRST Games be held in the southern hemisphere were in Melbourne, 1956.

The FIRST time same edition of the Olympic Games were hosted by two National Olympic Committees was when the Equestrian events were held in Stockholm for the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. This happened again in 2008 when Hong Hong hosted the equestrian events for the Beijing Olympics. The FIRST black African to win a gold medal was Ethiopian marathoner Abebe Bikila, who ran barefoot all the way in Rome, 1960. The FIRST Games to be televised were the Berlin Olympics in 1936. The telecast of events were shown on large screens around Berlin. The FIRST Olympic Games to be telecast into homes were the 1948 London Game which transmitted within the British Isles. The FIRST Olympic Games to be covered by television worldwide was the Rome Olympics in 1960. The FIRST athlete to be disqualified for drug use was Swedish pentathlete Hans-Grunner Liljenwall, having tested positive for excessive alcohol in Mexico City 1968. The FIRST woman to light Olympic flame was Norma Enriqueta Basilio in 1968. The FIRST Olympic mascot appeared at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games - Waldi the dachshund.

The FIRST time Olympic field hockey games were played on artificial turf was at the 1976 Montreal Games. The FIRST Games to be held in a communist country was the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow. The FIRST winner of the women's Olympic marathon, held in Los Angeles in 1984, was Joan Benoit of the USA. The FIRST four-way tie was achieved in 1984, in the men's gymnastics vault apparatus four competitors finished in second place. The FIRST time events for disabled athletes have featured at the Summer Olympic Games was in 1984, with the inclusion of wheelchair racing on the athletics program (exhibition event). The FIRST time professionals were officially allowed to compete in the Games was in 1984. The FIRST (and only) athlete to win winter and summer Olympic Games medals in the same year was Christa Luding-Rothenburger - in speed skating and cycling in 1988. The FIRST Winter and Summer Olympics to be held in different years were the 1994 Lillehammer Olympics and the 1996 Atlanta Olympics respectively.

The FIRST time all recognized National Olympic Committees (197 of them) were represented at the Games was in 1996. The FIRST athlete to win gold medals in five consecutive Olympics was British rower Steven Redgrave in 2000. The FIRST athlete to light the Olympic Flame and win a gold medal at the same Games was Australian Cathy Freeman, who won gold in the 400m race. the FIRST Olympic torch that traveled to all five continents was the torch for the Athens Olympics in 2004. the FIRST double amputee, and FIRST amputee runner to compete in the Olympic Games was South African Oscar Pistorius (aka the 'Blade Runner'). He competed in the 2012 Olympic Games 400m and the 4 x 400 m relay races. the FIRST South American city to host the Olympic Games was Rio in 2016. the FIRST Summer Games to be held entirely during winter time was in 2016. The other two Summer Olympics that took place in the southern hemisphere opened in winter and spring and closed in the spring. The Rio de Janeiro Olympics are scheduled to both open and close in the month of August.

The FIRST time profesional boxers were allowed to compete at the Olympics was in Rio 2016. The FIRST identical triplets to compete against each other were Leila, Liina and Lily Luik from Estonia who took part in the marathon at the Rio Olympics. The FIRST active NFL player to compete in a Summer Olympic Games was US Rugby 7s player Nate Ebner in 2016, a New England Patriots defensive back. Former American shot putter Michael Carter won silver at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, just months before making his debut as a nose tackle for the San Francisco 49ers. Likewise, Bob Hayes won gold in both the 100m and 4x100m track events in Tokyo in 1964 before making his NFL debut the following year. The FIRST hole-in-one during an Olympic golf tournament was achieved by England's Justin Rose, on the 189-yard, par-3 fourth hole at Rio's Olympic Course. Another male and two females also scored aces during this tournament.

The FIRST athlete to win the same track event three times was Usain Bolt , and he did it for three events, winning the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay in 2008, 2012 and 2016. The FIRST female athlete to win four individual gold medals at four consecutive Games was Japanese wrestler Kaori Icho (2004-2016). The FIRST city to host both the summer and winter Olympics will be Beijing - the Summer Games in 2008 and the Winter Games in 2022. The FIRST person to win a medal in six straight Summer Olympics was American skeet shooter Kim Rhode (Italian luger Armin Zoeggeler has done it at the Winter Olympics). Rhode's six medals, including 3 golds, were won from 1996 to 2016. Share:

Question: In which year were women allowed to compete in athletics events for the first time in the Olympic Games?
Answer: 1928