At the ancient Olympic games women were not allowed to compete or spectate! The  only exception was the chariot race, which they could enter as owners.  

Baron Pierre de Coubertin said that women competing in the modern Olympic games would be "a very unedifying spectacle for the spectators."

Six women took part in the Paris Games of 1900.  They competed in two sports, tennis and golf.

Charlotte Cooper (GB) became the first woman to win an Olympic Championship for tennis.  

Swimming events for women were included for the first time in 1912. 

It was not until 1928 in Amsterdam that women took part in track and field athletics.  They only competed in five events.  100m, 800m, 4X100m relay, high jump and discus.  At the end of the 800m so many competitors collapsed that it was removed from the Olympic Games.  

Women had to wait until 1960 before they raced further than 200m.   The women's 400m and Pentathlon were included for the first time in Tokyo in 1964.  

There were 75 women's events in Los Angeles in 1984. 

Silver For Sonia  

from reporter Kerrie (Fifth Class) who wishes she was in Sydney on 25/9/2000

Today we saw the first Irish female win a silver medal in the Olympics 2000.  She ran in the 5000m race.  She ran so fast I couldn't believe it.  There were 15 women running.  They were all bunched together.  Sonia was wearing an all-in-one.  it was green and orange and a bit white.  In the race there was two girls from Kenya.  They wore a red top and green shorts.  There were three girls from Ethiopia.  They wore a green top and red shorts.  One Romanian  girl ran.  Her name is Szabo.  She wore an all-in-one aswell.  It was yellow and red.  She won the race.  It was nearly a dream come true for Sonia.  

Fanny Blankers-Koen

Fanny Blankers-Koen, ’’the Flying Dutchwoman’’ won four gold medals at the London Olympics in 1948.  She first entered the Olympics in Berlin in 1936 when she was eighteen. It was twelve years before the next games were staged and she was 30 years old and had two children.  That didn’t stop her.  She won the 100m, 200m, 80m hurdles and the sprint relay! 

Fanny set twenty world records, with a range covering sprint and hurdles, high jump and long jump, as well as the pentathlon.

Dawn Fraser

Dawn Fraser from Australia was the first swimmer in Olympic history to win a gold medal in three successive games.  She was one of four female athletes to carry the torch in the Olympic Stadium in Sydney at the start of the 2000 games.

The Olympic Flame

The first woman to light the Olympic flame was a 400m runner, Enriqueta Basilio, in Mexico in 1968.

Oldest Competitor

Lorna Johnstone, aged 70, was placed 12th in the Dressage event at the Munich games in 1972.  She was the oldest British competitor ever.

Medals for Women 

Women were awarded medals for the first time at the 1912 Olympic Games.  They had only been given diplomas at other Olympics.   

Women Versus Men

Men and women compete against each other in three events:  equestrianism, shooting and yachting