When Women Organized their Own Olympics

A program from the first Women's Olympic in Monte Carlo formally known as the 1er Meeting International d’Education Physique Féminine de Sports Athlétiques in 1922.

When the International Olympic Committee (IOC) decided to ban women from competing in almost all events at the 1924 Olympiad to be held in Paris, some European athletes decided to take matters into their own hands and hold their own female international competition which was held from March 24 through March 31in 1921 in Monte Carlo.  Popularly known as the 1921 Women’s Olympiad (Olympiades Féminines or Jeux Olympiques Féminins) the games were the first of three held annually in the Riviera resort principality.

The games were organized by Alice Milliat, the French rower and founder of the Fédération Française Sportive Féminine in 1917 and by Camille Blanc, the male director of the International Sporting Club de Monaco.  Five nations were announced participants—France, Italy, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and Norway but no Norwegian athletes apparently competed.  The events were traditional track and field competitions including running—60 meters, 250 meters, 800 meters, 4 x 75 meters relay, 4 x 175 meters relay, and 65 meters hurdles)—high jump, long jump, standing long jump (exhibition only), javelin throw, and shot put.[11] The tournament also held exhibition events in basketball, gymnastics, pushball, and rhythmic gymnastics.

French rower and women's sports promoter helped found the Women's Olympics and the Women's World Games which were held every four years from 1922 through 1936.

With only the athletes, a small press contingent, and a few score public observes the tournament which was formally named 1er Meeting International d’Education Physique Féminine de Sports Athlétiques was small enough to be held at the Tir aux Pigeons in the gardens of the Monte Carlo Casino.

All gold medals went to athletes from France and the United Kingdom.  Brittan Mary Lines took home the gold in four events—the 60 and 250 meter races, long jump, and as anchor of the 4 x 75 relay.  Violette Morris of France, a future infamous Nazi collaborator won gold for javelin and shot put.  Many years after the fact A special commemorative medal was issued for the participants in the basketball exhibition in which the U.K. defeated France.

Although the Monte Carlo games were successful enough for two more events to be held at the same venue, Alice Milliat was dissatisfied and wanted to use more leverage to get women’s events into the quadrennial Olympic Games.  IOC members were furious that the Monte Carlo games had been called Olympics. In October 1921, Milliat formed La Fédération Sportive Féminine Internationale (FSFI) with the purpose of oversight of international women’s sporting events and the inclusion of women’s events in the Olympics.  Beginning in 1922 FSFI launched the Women’s World Games which were also sometimes called Women’s Olympics causing much confusion even among sports historians, and which were held in again in 1928, 1932, and 1936. 

The IOC grudgingly responded by adding more women’s events but never fully met the FSFI demands before that organization dissolved in 1938, the last year of pre—World War II Olympiads.

When the International Olympic Committee (IOC) decided to ban women from competing in almost all events at the 1924 Olympiad to be held in Paris, some European athletes decided to take matters into their own hands and hold their own female international competition which was held from March 24 through March 31in 1921 in Monte Carlo.  Popularly known as the 1921 Women’s Olympiad (Olympiades Féminines or Jeux Olympiques Féminins) the games were the first of three held annually in the Riviera resort principality.

The games were organized by Alice Milliat, the French rower and founder of the Fédération Française Sportive Féminine in 1917 and by Camille Blanc, the male director of the International Sporting Club de Monaco.  Five nations were announced participants—France, Italy, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and Norway but no Norwegian athletes apparently competed.  The events were traditional track and field competitions including running—60 meters, 250 meters, 800 meters, 4 x 75 meters relay, 4 x 175 meters relay, and 65 meters hurdles)—high jump, long jump, standing long jump (exhibition only), javelin throw, and shot put.[11] The tournament also held exhibition events in basketball, gymnastics, pushball, and rhythmic gymnastics.

With only the athletes, a small press contingent, and a few score public observes the tournament which was formally named 1er Meeting International d’Education Physique Féminine de Sports Athlétiques was small enough to be held at the Tir aux Pigeons in the gardens of the Monte Carlo Casino.

English track star Mary Lines was the big winner in the first Monte Carlo games bringing home four gold and one silver medal.

All gold medals went to athletes from France and the United Kingdom.  Brittan Mary Lines took home the gold in four events—the 60 and 250 meter races, long jump, and as anchor of the 4 x 75 relay.  Violette Morris of France, a future infamous Nazi collaborator won gold for javelin and shot put.  Many years after the fact A special commemorative medal was issued for the participants in the basketball exhibition in which the U.K. defeated France.

Although the Monte Carlo games were successful enough for two more events to be held at the same venue, Alice Milliat was dissatisfied and wanted to use more leverage to get women’s events into the quadrennial Olympic Games.  IOC members were furious that the Monte Carlo games had been called Olympics. In October 1921, Milliat formed La Fédération Sportive Féminine Internationale (FSFI) with the purpose of oversight of international women’s sporting events and the inclusion of women’s events in the Olympics.  Beginning in 1922 FSFI launched the Women’s World Games which were also sometimes called Women’s Olympics causing much confusion even among sports historians, and which were held in again in 1928, 1932, and 1936. 

The IOC grudgingly responded by adding more women’s events but never fully met the FSFI demands before that organization dissolved in 1938, the last year of pre—World War II Olympiads.

The statue of Allice Milliat unveiled last year at the French Olympic Committee Headquarters in Paris.

The IOC has since attempted to atone for its shabby treatment of women athletes.  On March 8, 2021, a statue of Milliat was unveiled at the French Olympic Committee’s headquarters in Paris, in recognition of her efforts for women’s sports.[15] In The Times of London later that month, Elgan Alderman wrote that the 1922 Women’s World Games was a “seismic moment” for progress in women's sport at the Olympics, and that no-one had contributed more than Milliat in enabling the development.  Mary Leigh and Thérèse M. Bonnin concluded in 1977 that without Milliat and the FSFI’s efforts, track and field events at the Olympics would only have been opened to women much later.