Sometimes I feel like a bad feminist, because I've never been a fan of women's sports. It's not gender discrimination though; I've never been a fan of men's sports either. But I did meet Mary Lou Retton a few months before her stunning performance in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, and so watched the women's gymnastic competition with great interest that year. And saved every piece of "Mary Lou" paraphernalia I could get my hands on. My favorite is the two-page newspaper photo of that triumphant dismount after her gold-winning balance beam performance. Even though the colors are faded and the paper is yellowed and brittle now, her energy and enthusiasm still threatens to bolt off the page and rampage through my house, disturbing my carefully-cultivated dust buffaloes.
That energy is what I remember most about meeting her. A quality that I usually called "terminal perkiness," seemed, in her, to have transformed itself into a bona-fide energy source - and one far too powerful for the small container in which it found itself.
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Still, with only that one small brush with sports-fandom to bolster me, I approached the task of building a netlinks page about female Olympians with some sense of apprehension. Surely, there must be some one more knowledgeable to whom I could send my readers? Luckily, I found many - and most of them are listed on the new subject page I made for the occasion. But gathering these resources and links on Women Olympians has immeasurably increased my admiration for these champions in a field that has always been, and still is, male-dominated. Even if you're not a sports fan, the stories of these women are both fascinating and uplifting, and it is with great pleasure that I share with you some of the tidbits I discovered during my search.
| Famous First Charlotte Cooper was the first woman to win an Olympic event. (1900, Women's Singles Tennis) |
Famous Firsts
The first women to compete in the Olympics were Marie Ohnier and Mme. Brohy, who participated in the 1900 croquet games.
Golfer Margaret Abbott was the first American woman to win an Olympic event.
In 1984 Mary Lou Retton became the first American woman to win an individual Olympic gold medal in gymnastics. In 1985, she became the first gymnast to be inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame.
In 1992, Zhang Shan, a Chinese skeet shooter, became the first woman to earn a gold medal in a mixed shooting event. The rules for the 1996 Atlanta Games were changed forthwith: now men and women compete separately.
In 1992, Orange County, California's Lanee Butler (Sailing - windsurfing) became the first U.S. woman to compete in the Olympic Sailboarding competition, placing 5th.
| Fun Fact Soviet gymnast Larissa Latyninam is the top gold-getting woman, with nine gold medals won in the 1956, 1960, and 1964 Olympics. |
Fun (and not-so-fun) Facts
Women were barred from competing in the first modern Olympic Games in 1896. In 1900, women were allowed to compete in only three events: Archery, Golf and Tennis.
In the 1960 Rome Olympics, Ray Norton was supposed to be the U. S. hero in track and field - but Ray Norton didn't win any medals. Wilma Rudolph to the rescue! She won three golds, and set a new Olympic record in the 200 meter competition.
In 1984, the fastest women's times in the 400 meter freestyle swimming event surpassed the fastest men's times from 1968 and before.
The 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta included 165 men-only athletic events, 95 women-only athletic events, and 11 mixed athletic events, including badminton, yachting and equestrian.
2000 Olympic high jump contender Amy Acuff posed nude for both Rolling Stone magazine and the Omni-Lite Millennium Calendar of Champions. Lest you think she's all bod, she also made the Academic All-American list more than once while studying pre-med at UCLA.
More details about everything listed here - and much, much more - can be found on the new "Women in the Olympics" subject page, located on the new "Women in Sports" subject page.
Enjoy!
Karen