1921 Women's Olympiad Explained

1921 Women's Olympiad
Country:	Monaco
Dates:	24–31 March 1921^[1]

The 1921 Women's Olympiad fr |Olympiades Féminines and fr |Jeux Olympiques Féminins 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]

Events

The games were organized by Alice Milliat and Camille Blanc,^[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. 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).

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.^[8] 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.

Team	Nation	Participants
1		58
2	Italy	?
3		?
4		?
5		21

Results

All gold medals went to athletes from France and the United Kingdom. Medalists:^[9]

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

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.^[10]

• 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^[8] and 1923 Women's Olympiad were held at the same Monaco venue;^[11] the 1922 event is sometimes confused with the 1922 Women's World Games held in Paris.^{[12] [13]} The IAAF unveiled a commemorative plaque at the site of the games in 2008.^[14]

External links

• Image program (cover) (Vivremaville.mc)
• Image medals (Worldathletics.org)
• Mixed pictures 1921 Women's Olympiad (and 1922 Women's Olympiad) (Bibliothèque National de France-BNF)
• Pictures 1921 Women's Olympiad (Historiatletismo)
• Film from the 1921 Women's Olympiad (BritishPathe

Notes and References

1. Web site: Athletics in the First Half of the 20th Century . 27 . . 2018 . 23 March 2021.
2. Sources:
   • Web site: Les Olympiades Féminines de Monte Carlo . L'Éclaireur de Nice, 31 March 1921, page 3 . fr . 4 January 2017 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20170213163556/http://www.basesdocumentaires-cg06.fr/archives/ImageZoomViewerPA.php?WDIDDOC=2006044110163181020000&WDVOLUMEID=VOL691&j=31&m=03&a=1921&journal=2 . 13 February 2017 .
   • Web site: Les Olympiades Féminines de Monte Carlo . Le Petit Niçois, 31 March 1921, page 3 . 4 January 2017 . fr . https://web.archive.org/web/20170213000819/http://www.basesdocumentaires-cg06.fr/archives/ImageZoomViewerPA.php?WDIDDOC=2005042934333653392000&WDVOLUMEID=VOL210&j=31&m=03&a=1921&journal=1 . 13 February 2017 . dead.
   • Web site: Jeux Mondiaux Féminins . Commission Documentation et Histoire, cdm.athle.com, chapter 7 . fr . 4 January 2017 .
3. Sources:
   • Web site: The Women's Olympic Games. Comité Olympique Monégasque.
   • Web site: Le parcours d'obstacles de l'athlétisme féminin. Granville Athletic Club.
4. Sources:
   • Book: Barbara L. Drinkwater . IOC Medical Commission . International Federation of Sports Medicine . https://books.google.com/books?id=rPXr-0PUk5gC&pg=PA5 . Gertrude . Pfister . Women in Sport . Blackwell Science . 15 April 2008 . 24 November 2016 . Women and the Olympic Games . The Encyclopaedia of Sports Medicine . VIII . 5–6 . 9780470756850.
   • Die ersten olympischen Wettbewerbe in internationalen Frauensport (1988). Bernett. Hajo. Sozial- und Zeitgeschichte des Sports. 1988 . 2 . 2 . Sozial- und Zeitgeschichte des Sports, Heft 2/1988 (Jg 2). 66–86 . 0931-7031 . de . 4 January 2017.
5. Sources:
   • Web site: Hace 90 años: los inicios del atletismo femenino. . Martin . Paul . 10 May 2011 . Atletismo e Historia (Athletics in History) . es . 24 November 2016.
   • Web site: Beatrice Look Papers . . 4 January 2017.
6. Sources:
   • 23 November 2008 . Plaque commemorating first Women's Olympics unveiled in Monte Carlo . IAAF . 24 November 2016 .
   • Book: Prudhomme-Poncet, Laurence . https://books.google.com/books?id=9gzLNx0cqzcC&pg=PA96 . Histoire du football féminin au XXème siècle . Editions L'Harmattan . 1 June 2003 . 24 November 2016 . 3-3 Les Olympiades féminines . 96–100 . fr . 9782296327481.
   • Ana . Miragaya . Olympic entrepreneurs – Alice Milliat: the 1st woman Olympic entrepreneur . Autonomous University of Barcelona Centre for Olympic Studies . 24 November 2016 . DaCosta . Lamartine. 105 . pt .
   • Women athletes between the world wars (act. 1919–1939) . January 2013 . Watman . Mel . 10.1093/ref:odnb/103699.
   • Web site: L'athlétisme féminin . Nordnet . Féchain Athlétique Club . 3 November 2008 . 24 November 2016 . Charlet . Sylvain . fr .
   • Web site: Women and sports at The Polytechnic . . 24 November 2016 .
   • Web site: Rétrospective de l'athlétisme féminin . Amicale des Entraineurs d'Ile de France d'Athlétisme . 24 November 2016 . Charlet . Sylvain. 10 . https://web.archive.org/web/20131210190606/http://www.aeifa.com/aeifa/articles/articles-generaux/mainColumnParagraphs/016/document/Retrospective%20de%20l%20Athletisme%20Feminin.pdf . 10 December 2013 . dead .
7. Book: The Women's Olympic Games. Comité Olympique Monégasque.
8. Web site: Beatrice Look Papers . . 4 January 2017.
9. Sources:
   • Web site: Hace 90 años: los inicios del atletismo femenino. . Martin . Paul . 10 May 2011 . Atletismo e Historia (Athletics in History) . es . 24 November 2016.
   • Book: Prudhomme-Poncet, Laurence . Histoire du football féminin au XXème siècle . https://books.google.com/books?id=9gzLNx0cqzcC&pg=PA96. 2003. Editions L'Harmattan . fr . 9782296327481 . 96–100 . 3-3 Les Olympiades féminines.
   • Mel . Watman . Women athletes between the world wars (act. 1919–1939) . January 2013 . 10.1093/ref:odnb/103699.
   • Die ersten olympischen Wettbewerbe in internationalen Frauensport (1988). Bernett. Hajo. Sozial- und Zeitgeschichte des Sports. 1988 . 2 . 2 . Sozial- und Zeitgeschichte des Sports, Heft 2/1988 (Jg 2). 66–86 . 0931-7031 . de . 4 January 2017.
   • Web site: Women and sports at The Polytechnic . . 24 November 2016 .
   • Web site: L'athlétisme féminin . Charlet . Sylvain . 3 November 2008 . Féchain Athlétique Club . Nordnet . fr . 24 November 2016.
   • Web site: Les Olympiades Féminines de Monte Carlo . Le Petit Niçois, 31 March 1921, page 3 . fr . 4 January 2017 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20170213000819/http://www.basesdocumentaires-cg06.fr/archives/ImageZoomViewerPA.php?WDIDDOC=2005042934333653392000&WDVOLUMEID=VOL210&j=31&m=03&a=1921&journal=1 . 13 February 2017 .
   • Web site: Les Olympiades Féminines de Monte Carlo . L'Éclaireur de Nice, 31 March 1921, page 3 . fr . 4 January 2017 . dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20170213163556/http://www.basesdocumentaires-cg06.fr/archives/ImageZoomViewerPA.php?WDIDDOC=2006044110163181020000&WDVOLUMEID=VOL691&j=31&m=03&a=1921&journal=2 . 13 February 2017 .
   • Web site: Jeux Mondiaux Féminins . Commission Documentation et Histoire, cdm.athle.com, chapter 7 . fr . 4 January 2017 .
10. Web site: Medailles Sports . Association Numismatique de Monaco . 24 November 2016 .
11. Web site: Le parcours d'obstacles de l'athlétisme féminin. Granville Athletic Club.
12. Book: Pfister . Gertrude . IOC Medical Commission . International Federation of Sports Medicine . Barbara L. Drinkwater . Women in Sport . https://books.google.com/books?id=rPXr-0PUk5gC&pg=PA5. The Encyclopaedia of Sports Medicine . VIII . 15 April 2008 . Blackwell Science . 9780470756850 . 5–6 . Women and the Olympic Games.
13. Web site: L'athlétisme féminin . Charlet . Sylvain . 3 November 2008 . Féchain Athlétique Club . Nordnet . fr . 24 November 2016.
14. 23 November 2008 . Plaque commemorating first Women's Olympics unveiled in Monte Carlo . IAAF . 24 November 2016.