1921 Women's Olympiad
 | |
| Country |  Monaco |
|---|---|
| Dates | 24–31 March 1921[1] |
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The 1921 Women's Olympiad Olympiades Féminines and Jeux Olympiques Féminins[2] was the first international women's sports event, a 5-day multi-sport event organised by Alice Milliat and held on 24–31 March[3] 1921 in Monte Carlo[4] at the International Sporting Club of Monaco.[5] The tournament was formally called 1er Meeting International d'Education Physique Féminine de Sports Athlétiques.[6] It was the first of three Women's Olympiads or "Monte Carlo Games" held annually at the venue, and the forerunner of the quadrennial Women's World Games, organised in 1922–1934 by the International Women's Sports Federation founded by Milliat later in 1921.[7]
Events
[edit]The games were organized by Alice Milliat and Camille Blanc,[2][8] director of the "International Sporting Club de Monaco" as a response to the IOC decision not to include women's events in the 1924 Olympic Games.[9] The games were attended by 100 participants from 5 nations: France, Italy, Switzerland, United Kingdom and Norway (mentioned by several sources, however no Norwegian athletes appear in the result lists).[9][10]
The English team was a collection of 21 athletes who attended the Woolwich and Regent Street Polytechnics in London. They set out on 21 March 1921. They were to compete in ten events and they won eight and came second in another.[11]
The athletes competed in ten events: running (60 metres, 250 metres, 800 metres, 4 x 75 metres relay, 4 x 175 metres relay and hurdling 65 metres), high jump, long jump, standing long jump (exhibition only), javelin and shot put.[12] The tournament also held exhibition events in basketball, gymnastics, pushball and rhythmic gymnastics. The tournament was held at the "Tir aux Pigeons" in the gardens of the Monte Carlo Casino.[2]
| Team | Nation | Participants |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |  France |
58 |
| 2 |  Italy |
? |
| 3 |  Norway |
? |
| 4 |  Switzerland |
? |
| 5 |  United Kingdom |
21 |
Results
[edit]All gold medals went to athletes from France and the United Kingdom. Medalists:[13]
The basketball tournament was won by Team Great Britain after a win in the final against Team France with 8–7. A special commemorative medal was issued for the participants.[14]
- nb Each athlete in the shot put and javelin throw events threw using their right hand, then their left. Their final mark was the total of the best mark with their right-handed throw and the best mark with their left-handed throw.
Legacy
[edit]The tournament was a great success and an important step for Women's sports.[a] The 1922 Women's Olympiad[12] and 1923 Women's Olympiad were held at the same Monaco venue;[18] the 1922 event is sometimes confused with the 1922 Women's World Games held in Paris.[2][9][10] The IAAF unveiled a commemorative plaque at the site of the games in 2008.[2]
The first women's national championships in track and field were held after the inaugural 1922 Women's World Games and the 1921, 1922 and 1923 Women's Olympiads. In the United Kingdom, the Women's Amateur Athletic Association was founded in 1922 and held the first WAAA Championships the following year.[19] In the United States, the 1923 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships included a women's competition for the first time.[20][21]
Note
[edit]- ↑ Women's teams from two universities in the United Kingdom initiated women's inter-varsity competition in 1921 and the Inter-Varsity Athletics Board (IVAB) in England held its first inter-varsity track and field competition for women in 1922.[15][16][17]
References
[edit]- ↑ "Athletics in the First Half of the 20th Century" (PDF). IAAF. 2018. p. 27. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
- 1 2 3 4 5 "Plaque commemorating first Women's Olympics unveiled in Monte Carlo" (Press release). IAAF. 23 November 2008. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
- ↑ Sources:
- "Les Olympiades Féminines de Monte Carlo" (in French). L'Éclaireur de Nice, 31 March 1921, page 3. Archived from the original on 13 February 2017. Retrieved 4 January 2017.
- "Les Olympiades Féminines de Monte Carlo" (in French). Le Petit Niçois, 31 March 1921, page 3. Archived from the original on 13 February 2017. Retrieved 4 January 2017.
- "Jeux Mondiaux Féminins" (in French). Commission Documentation et Histoire, cdm.athle.com, chapter 7. Retrieved 4 January 2017.
- ↑ Sources:
- "The Women's Olympic Games". Comité Olympique Monégasque.
- "Le parcours d'obstacles de l'athlétisme féminin". Granville Athletic Club.[dead link]
- ↑ Sources:
- Pfister, Gertrude; IOC Medical Commission; International Federation of Sports Medicine (15 April 2008). "Women and the Olympic Games". In Barbara L. Drinkwater (ed.). Women in Sport. The Encyclopaedia of Sports Medicine. Vol. VIII. Blackwell Science. pp. 5–6. ISBN 9780470756850. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
- Bernett, Hajo (1988). "Die ersten olympischen Wettbewerbe in internationalen Frauensport (1988)". Sozial- und Zeitgeschichte des Sports (in German). 2 (2). Sozial- und Zeitgeschichte des Sports, Heft 2/1988 (Jg 2): 66–86. ISSN 0931-7031. Retrieved 4 January 2017.
- ↑ Sources:
- Martin, Paul (10 May 2011). "Hace 90 años: los inicios del atletismo femenino". Atletismo e Historia (Athletics in History) (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 November 2016.
- "Beatrice Look Papers". University of Greenwich. Retrieved 4 January 2017.[dead link]
- ↑ Sources:
- "Plaque commemorating first Women's Olympics unveiled in Monte Carlo" (Press release). IAAF. 23 November 2008. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
- Prudhomme-Poncet, Laurence (1 June 2003). "3-3 Les Olympiades féminines". Histoire du football féminin au XXème siècle (in French). Editions L'Harmattan. pp. 96–100. ISBN 9782296327481. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
- Miragaya, Ana; DaCosta, Lamartine. "Olympic entrepreneurs – Alice Milliat: the 1st woman Olympic entrepreneur" (PDF) (in Portuguese). Autonomous University of Barcelona Centre for Olympic Studies: 105. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help)[permanent dead link] - Watman, Mel (January 2013). "Women athletes between the world wars (act. 1919–1939)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/103699. (Subscription, Wikipedia Library access or UK public library membership required.)
- Charlet, Sylvain (3 November 2008). "L'athlétisme féminin". Féchain Athlétique Club (in French). Nordnet. Archived from the original on 24 February 2018. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
- "Women and sports at The Polytechnic". University of Westminster. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
- Charlet, Sylvain. "Rétrospective de l'athlétisme féminin" (PDF). Amicale des Entraineurs d'Ile de France d'Athlétisme. p. 10. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 December 2013. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
- ↑ The Women's Olympic Games. Comité Olympique Monégasque.
- 1 2 3 Pfister, Gertrude; IOC Medical Commission; International Federation of Sports Medicine (15 April 2008). "Women and the Olympic Games". In Barbara L. Drinkwater (ed.). Women in Sport. The Encyclopaedia of Sports Medicine. Vol. VIII. Blackwell Science. pp. 5–6. ISBN 9780470756850.
- 1 2 Charlet, Sylvain (3 November 2008). "L'athlétisme féminin". Féchain Athlétique Club (in French). Nordnet. Archived from the original on 24 February 2018. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
- ↑ "Records and Archives » Celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the 1921 Women's Olympiad". Polytechnic Magazine. April 2021.
- 1 2 "Beatrice Look Papers". University of Greenwich. Retrieved 4 January 2017.[dead link]
- ↑ Sources:
- Martin, Paul (10 May 2011). "Hace 90 años: los inicios del atletismo femenino". Atletismo e Historia (Athletics in History) (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 November 2016.
- Prudhomme-Poncet, Laurence (2003). "3-3 Les Olympiades féminines". Histoire du football féminin au XXème siècle (in French). Editions L'Harmattan. pp. 96–100. ISBN 9782296327481.
- Watman, Mel (January 2013). "Women athletes between the world wars (act. 1919–1939)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/103699. (Subscription, Wikipedia Library access or UK public library membership required.)
- Bernett, Hajo (1988). "Die ersten olympischen Wettbewerbe in internationalen Frauensport (1988)". Sozial- und Zeitgeschichte des Sports (in German). 2 (2). Sozial- und Zeitgeschichte des Sports, Heft 2/1988 (Jg 2): 66–86. ISSN 0931-7031. Retrieved 4 January 2017.
- "Women and sports at The Polytechnic". University of Westminster. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
- Charlet, Sylvain (3 November 2008). "L'athlétisme féminin". Féchain Athlétique Club (in French). Nordnet. Archived from the original on 24 February 2018. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
- "Les Olympiades Féminines de Monte Carlo" (in French). Le Petit Niçois, 31 March 1921, page 3. Archived from the original on 13 February 2017. Retrieved 4 January 2017.
- "Les Olympiades Féminines de Monte Carlo" (in French). L'Éclaireur de Nice, 31 March 1921, page 3. Archived from the original on 13 February 2017. Retrieved 4 January 2017.
- "Jeux Mondiaux Féminins" (in French). Commission Documentation et Histoire, cdm.athle.com, chapter 7. Retrieved 4 January 2017.
- ↑ "Medailles Sports". Association Numismatique de Monaco. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
- ↑ Duval, Lynne (1 May 2001). "The Development of Women's Track and Field in England. The Role of the Athletic Club, 1920s-1950s". The Sports Historian. 21 (1): 1–34. doi:10.1080/17460260109443374. ISSN 1351-5462. PMID 21046845.
- ↑ Cole, Dr Matt. "Leading The Field: The Story of Sport at the University of Birmingham" (PDF). University of Birmingham.
- ↑ Daly, Tommy (9 May 2025). "The Early Years of Sport at the University of Birmingham (1900-1918)". University of Birmingham Sport & Fitness. Retrieved 20 September 2026.
- ↑ "Le parcours d'obstacles de l'athlétisme féminin". Granville Athletic Club.[dead link]
- ↑ "2023: 100 years of Women's Athletics – The Athletics Museum". 22 September 2023. Retrieved 11 October 2026.
- ↑ Tricard, Louise Mead (1996). American Women's Track and Field: A History, 1895 Through 1980. Vol. 1. McFarland. pp. 88–89. ISBN 978-0-7864-0219-9. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
- ↑ "USA Outdoor Track & Field Champions". USA Track & Field. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
