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The Olympics of Grace ( it, Olimpiadi della Grazia) was an early international
multi-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 intern ...
for women''Le Olimpiadi della Grazia (seconda parte)''
FIDAL (Federazione Italiana di Atletica Leggera) (accessdate 15 June 2021)
that was held from 29–31 May 1931 in
Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico ...
, Italy. Primarily composed of
track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping even ...
events and contested by women from eleven European countries, the competition was a forerunner to women's participation in the European Athletics Championships.


History

The formation of the
International Women's Sports Federation The Fédération Sportive Féminine Internationale (FSFI) – or, in English, the International Women's Sports Federation – was founded in October 1921 by Alice Milliat because of the unwillingness of existing sports organisations, such as ...
(FSFI) and the hosting of the 1921 Women's World Games 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 ...
, led by Alice Milliat, marked the growth of organised international women's sport. The
Grand Council of Fascism The Grand Council of Fascism (, also translated "Fascist Grand Council") was the main body of Benito Mussolini, Mussolini's Italian Fascism, Fascist government in Italy, that held and applied great power to control the institutions of governmen ...
in Italy was partly encouraging of the movement but stated that, regardless of sporting prowess, motherhood was a woman's most important role. Women's engagement in sport fitted the views of
Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in 19 ...
, the Italian dictator, whose feminine ideal concerned rural, strong and fertile women, in opposition to ostentation and cosmopolitanism. Still, reflecting the social background of antagonism or ambivalence towards pure
athleticism Athletics is a term encompassing the human competitive sports and games requiring physical skill, and the systems of training that prepare athletes for competition performance. Athletic sports or contests are competitions which are primarily base ...
in women, the 1931 sporting event was designated the ''Olympics of Grace''. International promotional material around the event stressed it "will be devoted not to contests of speed, strength or skill, but to exhibitions of gymnastic grace". The tournament was supported by Italian women's sports organisations as well as the FSFI. It was not sanctioned by 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). Both this event and the Women's World Games led to greater inclusion of women at the Olympic Games. The number of Olympic women athletes increased over five-fold from the
1920 Events January * January 1 ** Polish–Soviet War in 1920: The Russian Red Army increases its troops along the Polish border from 4 divisions to 20. ** Kauniainen, completely surrounded by the city of Espoo, secedes from Espoo as its own ...
to the
1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics ( German: ''Olympische Sommerspiele 1936''), officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad ( German: ''Spiele der XI. Olympiade'') and commonly known as Berlin 1936 or the Nazi Olympics, were an international multi ...
(65 to 331). In addition to the track and field events, a dancing competition was held and the winner's cup was presented to a troupe of German dancers under the tutelage of
Mary Wigman Mary Wigman (born Karoline Sophie Marie Wiegmann; 13 November 1886 – 18 September 1973) was a German dancer and choreographer, notable as the pioneer of expressionist dance, dance therapy, and movement training without pointe shoes. She is c ...
, one of the originators of modern expressionist dance.Wellesley College. "The Wellesley News" (1932-12-08). ''The Wellesley News''
Book 935
Retrieved on 2014-01-11.
It is not known what other events were held in Florence besides dance and athletics.


Medal summary


Athletics


Participation

Eleven European countries competed at the Olympics of Grace. Final standings.


References

{{Women's World Games Women's World Games Women's athletics competitions 1931 in multi-sport events 1931 in athletics (track and field) 1931 in Italian sport Athletics competitions in Italy International sports competitions hosted by Italy Sport in Florence Multi-sport events in Italy May 1931 sports events