Women in Sports in Early Twentieth Century Britain

Women first competed in track and field in the 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam, and they were offered five events, including the 800 meter run. Though women, including British women, had been competing in the Olympics since 1900, the half mile was a controversial move. Many people weren't sure if women could run that far without doing damage to their health. The race itself was a success, and Lina Radke of Germany set a world record of 2:16.8, but the aftermath of the race was shocking. Six of the nine runners fell to the ground in exhaustion and several were carried off the track, though it was found later that none were in any danger.

The London Times reported of the event, "The half dozen prostrate and obviously distressed forms lying in the grass at the side of the track after the race may not warrant a complete condemnation, but it certainly suggests unpleasant possibilities."

The New York Times wrote, "The final of the women's 800-meter run . . . plainly demonstrated that even this distance makes too great a call on feminine strength.

The 800 meters was declared unsafe for women, was removed from the Olympic schedule, and was not contested at any Olympics until 1960, 32 years later.

British women have long been active athletes, since pre-Victorian days, and they were at the front of the push for more participation in sports in the early twentieth century. They had more options than most women at that time, but still they were held to considerably different standards than men. Their participation was limited and they fought the attitudes of the era for more opportunities to compete. Whether for health reasons or decency concerns, the attitude for the first few decades of the century was that women exercising or playing sports was not ladylike. As well, competition would likely make women less feminine.

Health concerns were an early-twentieth century focus. Women could damage their reproductive organs. They would grow unfeminine muscles. One British doctor said in 1906 that sport would "develop the shoulders rather than the breeding parts of the anatomy." As well, their nervous temperaments could be damaged. Sports would interfere with menstruation. They faced more danger from injury because of their delicate bones.

As well, sports were seen as counter to feminine qualities. Ladies shouldn't been seen riding a bicycle because that involves the spreading of the legs, a very unladylike position, even if the lady were wearing a long skirt. They shouldn't be allowed to target shoot because that involves them lying in a prone position in public. Or, they shouldn't be seen rowing because the movement puts them in a semi-supine position. At an 1855 rowing competition between Oxford and Cambridge, the teams were judged on style rather than speed, so they didn't have to exert themselves as much. Competition was masculine, not feminine, and women who were involved in sports could become promiscuous.

Women also had to dress scandalously when they competed. Especially in the early part of the century, Victorian dress codes still held, and exposed calves or knees were not acceptable in public. Though Victorian women had the free time and resources for sport, especially at school, it was hard to play sports comfortably when arms and legs and throats had to be covered. Even elite tennis players at Wimbledon were shackled by such restrictions. Not until the 1930s did women start playing golf and tennis in something other than a long skirt, though trousers first caused outrage before they became acceptable.

Murphy summarizes the objections that women had to overcome by saying, "the implications are just so complex that they threaten the social order in some way that is not properly understood at this point, or will cause some kind of harm or disharmony or physical injury or emotional dislocation or general frenzy, or exploitation or sexual revolution or confusion that would be altogether regrettable."

In the early twentieth century, women played tennis and golf, and some were allowed to swim and cycle (although cycling still provoked scandal for some because of the unladylike movements it required). Women who played sports had to be society women in order to have the leisure and finance for such activities. The sports they played were not vigorous and usually did not demand unladylike things of their participants. At the first modern Olympics in which women were allowed to participate, in 1900, 19 women from five countries, including Great Britain, competed in tennis and golf. Britain's Charlotte Cooper became the first female gold medalist when she won the women's tennis singles competition. By 1920, 77 women from 13 countries participated in the Olympics, and by 1928 those numbers were up to 290 women from 26 countries competing in 15 different events. Sports such as fencing and swimming had been added, and by 1928, track and field was on the list. With only a couple of exceptions, participation by women increased steadily with every Olympic games held. By comparison, at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, more than 4,000 women from 199 countries participated in 25 sports, for a total of more than 130 different events. There were 28 sports altogether.

The first international track meet for women was held in 1922 in Paris. Other women-only athletic events were staged in Monaco and France in the early 1920s, but this was the first track-only event. A British team competed with the United States, France, Switzerland, and Czechoslovakia. The move to initiate the meet came after the all-male International Olympic Committee refused to allow women to compete in track and field events at the 1920 Olympics. Events at the track meet included the 60 meters, 100 yards, 300 meters, 1,000 meters, hurdles, high jump, running and standing long jumps, shot put, and javelin. The British team, which sent 13 athletes to the meet, scored 50 points, set three world records, and won the competition, with the United States coming in second with 31.

By the 1920s, attitudes began to change. Britain had been through a World War and was experiencing what Townson calls the "golden age" of women in sport. Sporting achievement had reached a high level of excellence in Britain, as well as the United States and other European countries. Murphy also cites the emergence of the "athletic girl," who was a model of health and attractiveness. International federations in field hockey and table tennis were founded. Women start figure skating at the Winter Olympics. Britain established the first national championship for women in squash, and women set endurance records in aviation. In 1926 an American, Gertrude Ederle, became the first woman to swim the English Channel, and she set the speed record in the process. Her time of 14 hours, 31 minutes, broke the old record by two hours. Three weeks later, American Millie Gade swam the channel in 15 and a half hours, which also beat all the men's times to date.

Some sports, such as distance running, took longer for women to break into. The first women's marathon at the Olympics was held in 1984 in Los Angeles and won by American Joan Benoit, for example. And the International Olympic Committee didn't have a woman member until 1981. However, in the first three decades of the twentieth century, women made huge strides in pushing for more opportunities to compete. British women were a formidable athletic force on the international scene during this time, and many firsts for women in sport were made by the British.

1. Frank Murphy. The Silence of Great Distance: Women Running Long. Kansas City, Mo.: Windsprint Press, 2000.

2. Tracy Mack. "Some Early History about Women and the Olympics." Olympic Women.

3. "History of Women in Sports Timeline." American Association of University Women.

4. British Olympic Association.

5. Jane Tuttle. "They Set the Mark." Columbia College.

6. "Olympic History." Yebbo Communication Network.