The 1923 Women's Olympiad (, and ) was the fourth international event in

women's sports The participation of women and girls in sports, physical fitness and exercise, has been recorded to have existed throughout history. However, participation rates and activities vary in accordance with nation, era, geography, and stage of econ ...

, the tournament was held 4 to 7 April 1923 in

Monte Carlo Monte Carlo (; ; french: Monte-Carlo , or colloquially ''Monte-Carl'' ; lij, Munte Carlu ; ) is officially an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco, specifically the ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is ...

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

. The tournament was formally called "''Les Jeux Athlétiques Féminins à Monté Carlo''". The games were a runner-up to the

1921 Women's Olympiad The 1921 Women's Olympiad and was the first international women's sports event, a 5-day multi-sport event organised by Alice Milliat and held on 24–31 March 1921 in Monte Carlo at the International Sporting Club of Monaco. The tourname ...

and

1922 Women's Olympiad The 1922 Women's Olympiad ( and ) was the secondmulti-sport event A multi-sport event is an organized sporting event, often held over multiple days, featuring competition in many different sports among organized teams of athletes from (mostly) nation-states. The first major, modern, multi-sport event of interna ...

was as previous years organised by Fédération des Sociétés Féminines Sportives de France (FSFSF) under chairwoman

Alice Milliat Alice Joséphine Marie Milliat née Million (5 May 1884 – 19 May 1957) was a pioneer of women's sport. Her lobbying on behalf of female athletes led to the accelerated inclusion of more women's events in the Olympic Games. A member of , a cl ...

and Camille Blanc, director of the "International Sporting Club de Monaco" as a response to the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

(IOC) decision not to include women's events in the 1924 Olympic Games. The games were attended by participants from 8 nations: Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, France, Italy, Monaco, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. The tournament was a huge promotion for women's sports. The athletes competed in 11 events: running (

60 metres 60 metres, or 60-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field. It is a championship event for indoor championships, normally dominated by the best outdoor 100 metres runners. At outdoor venues it is a rare distance, at least for senior ath ...

, 250 metres, 800 metres, 4 x 75 metres relay, 4 x 175 metres relay and hurdling 65 metres), high jump,

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a ...

, javelin, shot put and

Athletics pentathlon In the sport of athletics, pentathlons have taken various forms over the history of the sport, typically incorporating five track and field events. The only version of the event to remain at a high level of contemporary competition is the women' ...

. The tournament also held exhibition events in

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

gymnastics Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, s ...

and rhythmic gymnastics. The tournament was held at the "Tir aux Pigeons" in the gardens Les jardins du Casino of the Monte Carlo Casino in the ward of Monte Carlo. Among the spectators were Prince Louis II,

Princess Charlotte Princess Charlotte may refer to: People * Charlotte Christine of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1694–1715), wife of Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich of Russia and mother of Tsar Peter II, Emperor of Russia * Charlotte Aglaé d'Orléans (1700–1761), wife of ...

and Prince Pierre. Prior to the tournament a gymnastics event ("La Quatrième Fête Fédérale de Gymnastique et d'Éducation Physique Féminines" in the ward of Fontvieille with about 1200 participants from 71 gymnastic clubs (this event is sometimes confused with the athletic event).

Results

Almost all medals went to athletes from France and the United Kingdom, medalists for each event: * 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. Sophie Eliott-Lynn later also competed at the

1926 Women's World Games The 1926 Women's World Games (Swedish II. Internationella kvinnliga idrottsspelen, French 2èmes jeux féminins mondiaux ) were the second regular international Women's World Games, the tournament was held between 27

in Gothenburg where she finished fourth in the javelin event. Marie Janderová competed in the javelin event, her result of 25,50 metres was a

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...

, however she finished fifth in the totals with 42,11 metres. world record holder in 800 metres Georgette Lenoir and world record holder in shot put

Violette Morris Violette Morris (18 April 1893 – 26 April 1944) was a French athlete and Nazi collaborator who won two gold and one silver medal at the Women's World Games in 1921–1922. She was later banned from competing for violating "moral standards". S ...

also competed at the games but without gaining any medals. The basketball tournament was won by Team France after a win in the final against Team England with 19-1. A special commemorative medal was issued for the participants.

Legacy

The tournament was a huge promotion for women's sports. However it was the last of three Women's Olympiads. The event continued as

Women's World Games The Women's World Games were the first international women's sports events in track and field. The games were held four times between 1922 and 1934. They were established by Alice Milliat and the Fédération Sportive Féminine Internationale (F ...

with the first event already being held in Paris in 1922.

References

External links

picture high jump Ivy Lowman (L'Équipe.fr)

picture running event (L'Équipe.fr)

picture hurdles event (Getty Images)

newspaper Le Petit Journal Illustré cover (22 April 1923)

newspaper Le Petit Journal Illustré in french (22 April 1923) (Bibliothèque nationale de France – BnF)

pictures (Národní muzeum Česka /National museum Czech Republic)

film gymnastics event (British Pathé)

film gymnastics event (YouTube)

Participation medal
{{1923 in athletics Women's World Games International sports competitions hosted by Monaco 1923 in multi-sport events 1923 in sports 1923 in Monaco Multi-sport events in Monaco 1923 in women's sport Women's Olympiad