Opening ceremony of the Olympics of Grace, 1931

Bruna Bertolini, Jolanda Bacchelli e Pierina Borsani, Firenze 1931

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 interna ...

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 an ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. 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 events ...

events and contested by women from eleven European countries, the competition was a forerunner to women's participation in the

European Athletics Championships The European Athletics Championships is a biennial (from 2010) athletics event organised by the European Athletics Association and is recognised as the elite continental outdoor athletics championships for Europe. Editions First held, for men ...

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 a ...

(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 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 ...

, 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 Mussolini's Fascist government in Italy, that held and applied great power to control the institutions of government. It was created as a body of th ...

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 194 ...

, 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 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 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 ...

led to greater inclusion of women at the Olympic Games. The number of Olympic women athletes increased over five-fold from the 1920 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-sp ...

(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 co ...

, 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 Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competi ...

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