Key Points
- At the 2024 Paris Olympics, women are set to make up 50 per cent of the competing athletes for the first time.
- Women have been historically underrepresented at the Olympics, both as athletes and in coaching and leadership.
- Women made up just 2.2 per cent of athletes when they first took part in the Olympics in 1900.
At the first international Olympic Games in 1896, 241 athletes competed in 43 events across nine sports.
None of them were women.
Now, over 100 years later, female athletes are set to make up 50 per cent of competitors at the 2024 Games in Paris — a first for the elite international competition.
Here's how women's inclusion in the Olympics has improved over the years.
Who were the first female Olympians?
Women were first included in the Olympics in 1900, and their participation has gradually increased ever since.
At the 1900 Games — which were also held in Paris — 22 out of 997 athletes were female, and they competed in tennis, sailing, croquet, equestrianism and golf.
Of these sports, only tennis and golf had women-only events, with the other sports being mixed.
The first female Olympic champion was Hélène de Pourtalès, a Swiss-American sailor who was part of the crew that won the first of two 1-2 ton class regattas.
In 1948, US high jumper Alice Coachman became the first Black woman to win an Olympic gold medal.
Australia's Cathy Freeman was the first Indigenous woman to win gold after her victory in the 400m at the Sydney Olympics in 2000.
The most successful woman to compete at the Olympics is former Soviet Union gymnast Larisa Latynina, who won 18 medals at three Games.
German swimmer Kristin Otto has won the most gold medals at a single Olympics, with six in 1988.
German-Italian canoer Josefa Idem-Guerrini holds the record for the most appearances by a woman at the Olympics, having competed in eight Olympics from 1984 to 2008.
Who were the first Australian female Olympians?
The first Australian women to represent Australia at the Olympics were Sarah 'Fanny' Durack and Mina Wylie.
They both competed in the 100m freestyle at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics, finishing in first and second place, respectively.
Women at the Winter Olympics
Similarly to the Summer Olympics, women have historically been underrepresented at the Winter Olympics.
At the first Winter Olympics in 1924, 11 out of 258 athletes were women, and they were only permitted to compete in figure skating.
In 1936, women competed in alpine skiing for the first time. In the years following, women participated in a growing variety of Winter Games sports.
The most recent Winter Olympics, held in Beijing in 2022, were the most gender-balanced to date, with 45 per cent of athletes being women.
Events were added and athlete quotas were modified to ensure a more balanced representation, with the Beijing Games having the highest number of women's events ever.
Women's participation in sports off the field
Historically, sport has not only been male-dominated in terms of participation and coverage, but also at a management and leadership level.
At the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, women accounted for just 20 per cent of National Olympic Committee Chef de Missions — who lead and oversee their national delegates — and 13 per cent of Accredited Coaches
At the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, 21 per cent of National Olympic Committee Chef de Missions and 10 per cent of Accredited Coaches were women.
In 2021, the IOC adopted 21 Gender Equality and Inclusion Objectives for 2021-2024, which included actions to improve these statistics.
The Olympic Charter states that one of the roles of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is to "encourage and support the promotion of women in sport at all levels and in all structures".
As of October 2023, women chair 14 of the 33 IOC Commissions (42 per cent) and hold 50 per cent of the positions across the IOC Commissions.
As of January 2024, 43 out of the 106 (40.6 per cent) active IOC members are women.
