1921 Women's Olympiad

The 1921 Women's Olympiad Olympiades Féminines and Jeux Olympiques Féminins[1] was the first international women's sports event, a 5-day multi-sport event organised by Alice Milliat and held on 24–31 March[2] 1921 in Monte Carlo[3] at the International Sporting Club of Monaco.[4] The tournament was formally called 1er Meeting International d'Education Physique Féminine de Sports Athlétiques.[5] 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 1922–34 by the International Women's Sports Federation founded by Milliat later in 1921.[6]

1921 Women's Olympiad

Country	Monaco
Dates	24–31 March 1921

Mary Lines

Lucie Bréard

Germaine Delapierre

Frédérique Kussel

Violette Morris

Events

The games were organized by Alice Milliat and Camille Blanc,[1][7] 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.[8] 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).[8][9]

The athletes competed in 10 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.[10] 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.[1]

Team	Nation	Participants
1	France	58
2	Italy	?
3	Norway	?
4	Switzerland	?
5	United Kingdom	21

Results

All gold medals went to athletes from France and the United Kingdom, medalists:[11] 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.[12]

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
60 m	Mary Lines  United Kingdom	8.2	Daisy Wright  United Kingdom	?	Hilda Hatt  United Kingdom	?
250 m	Mary Lines  United Kingdom	36.3	Lucie Bréard  France	?	Suzanne Liébrard  France	?
800 m	Lucie Bréard  France	2.30,1	Mary Lines  United Kingdom	2.32,8	Suzanne Porte  France	2.44,0
4 x 75 m relay	GB Team A  United Kingdom Hilda Hatt Alice Cast Daisy Wright Mary Lines	?	Team Femina Sport  France	?	GB Team B  United Kingdom	?
4 x 175 m relay 200 meters in the finals	Team Great Britain  United Kingdom Mary Lines Bradley Hilda Hatt Alice Cast	1.46,2	Team Femina Sport  France Lucie Bréard Germaine Delapierre Thérèse Brulé Suzanne Liébrard	?	Team FFFSA  France Alice Connet Raymonde Canolle Antonine Mignon Paulette de Croze	?
Hurdles	Germaine Delapierre  France	12,6	Suzanne Liébrard  France	12,8	Thérèse Brulé  France	13,8
High jump	Frédérique Kussel  France	1.40	Hilda Hatt  United Kingdom	shared Gold	Madeleine Bracquemond  France	1.35
Long jump	Mary Lines  United Kingdom	4.70	Hilda Hatt  United Kingdom	4.60	Lucie Bréard  France	4.52
Javelin, two-handed^[nb]	Violette Morris  France	41,53	Francesca Pianzola   Switzerland	40,17	Carmen Pomiès  France	33,83
Shot put, two-handed^[nb]	Violette Morris  France	16.29	Francesca Pianzola   Switzerland	14,01	Barbera   Switzerland	13,98

• ^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

The tournament was a great success and an important step for Women's sports. The 1922 Women's Olympiad[10] and 1923 Women's Olympiad were held at the same Monaco venue;[13] the 1922 event is sometimes confused with the 1922 Women's World Games held in Paris.[1][8][9] The IAAF unveiled a commemorative plaque at the site of the games in 2008.[1]

References

1. "Plaque commemorating first Women's Olympics unveiled in Monte Carlo" (Press release). IAAF. 23 November 2008. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
2. 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.
3. Sources:
   • "The Women's Olympic Games". Comité Olympique Monégasque.
   • "Le parcours d'obstacles de l'athlétisme féminin". Granville Athletic Club.
4. 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. VIII. Blackwell Science. pp. 5–6. ISBN 9780470756850. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
   • Bernett, Hajo. "Die ersten olympischen Wettbewerbe in internationalen Frauensport (1988)" (in German). Sozial- und Zeitgeschichte des Sports, Heft 2/1988 (Jg 2). pp. 66–86. ISSN 0931-7031. Retrieved 4 January 2017.
5. 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.
6. 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 requires |journal= (help)
   • 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 or UK public library membership required.)
   • Charlet, Sylvain (3 November 2008). "L'athlétisme féminin". Féchain Athlétique Club (in French). Nordnet. 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.
7. The Women's Olympic Games. Comité Olympique Monégasque.
8. 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. VIII. Blackwell Science. pp. 5–6. ISBN 9780470756850.
9. Charlet, Sylvain (3 November 2008). "L'athlétisme féminin". Féchain Athlétique Club (in French). Nordnet. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
10. "Beatrice Look Papers". University of Greenwich. Retrieved 4 January 2017.
11. 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 or UK public library membership required.)
    • Bernett, Hajo. "Die ersten olympischen Wettbewerbe in internationalen Frauensport (1988)" (in German). Sozial- und Zeitgeschichte des Sports, Heft 2/1988 (Jg 2). pp. 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. 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.
12. "Medailles Sports". Association Numismatique de Monaco. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
13. "Le parcours d'obstacles de l'athlétisme féminin". Granville Athletic Club.

External links

• Mixed pictures 1921 Women's Olympiad (and 1922 Women's Olympiad)
• Pictures 1921 Women's Olympiad
• Cover of the program
• Participation medal