Women's history and sport

There were no women at the first modern Olympics in 1896. Today, men are still in the majority, but women are gaining ground. For example, at the XXVI Olympic Games in Atlanta, 97 of 271 events were open to women, and 11 were open to both men and women; 3,626 of the 10,629 athletes were women. The Canadian team of 307 athletes, consisting of 154 women and 153 men, was the first Canadian team to have more women than men, which is a significant change in no time.

The movement to improve these numbers has been slow and uncertain. There are still many obstacles to full participation globally, but Canada has seen some progress and some milestones at the end of the 20th century.

Fact # 1:

When the Olympics first appeared, women were not even allowed to be spectators.

Fact # 2:

From the middle of the Middle Ages to the middle of Modern Times, women in Japan professionally practiced Cuju (Chinese ancestor of football).

Fact # 3:

When the modern Olympic Games were created in 1896, women were not allowed to participate.

Fact # 4:

Many high-intensity sports have been made less intense for women, such as softball, which is a derivative of baseball, or netball which is a variant of basketball and very popular in Australia.

Fact # 5:

The first time that women participated in the Olympic Games was during the 1900 edition in Paris. A total of 22 women competed in tennis, sailing, horseback riding, golf, and croquet (the sport of passing wooden balls through hoops with a mallet).

Fact # 6:

In 1972, the United States government enacted Title IX legislation that states that no federal sports funding program should discriminate against anyone based on gender. Thanks to this law, women's sport has improved considerably since then.

Fact # 7:

Women's football, which was quite popular in England, was to be banned in 1921 by the Football Association for no real reason except for moral and health concerns. Other European federations such as Italy and Germany have also subsequently banned this practice. In France, women's football will be banned in 1941 by the Vichy regime, which considers it harmful. It was not until the early 1970s that the ban was lifted across Europe.

Fact # 8:

Tennis player Heather Watson and swimmer Fu Yuanhui were the first sportswomen to break the rules taboo in women's sport in 2015 and 2016, respectively. Both admitted that if their performances had fallen short, it was because they had their period. Moreover, these words made by the Chinese swimmer have caused a lot of talk in China, where the rules are extremely taboo.

Fact # 9:

If female sports practice exists in France, it is in particular thanks to Alice Maillet. It was she who, in 1921, created the Fédération Sportive Féminine Internationale, which gradually enabled women's sport to be imposed on the Olympic Games and increased the number of sports disciplines intended for women.

Fact # 10:

Five years before women were officially allowed to participate in the Boston Marathon in the United States, a 19-year-old young woman, Kathrine Switzer, decided to participate in the 1967 marathon. She had previously registered under a false name. The organizer spots her during the race and tries to stop her, to no avail. The American will finish her marathon in 4:20.