Road to Paris 2024: History of Women in the Summer Olympics

“Games Wide Open” is a slogan that isn’t playing around. In fact, it’s making history.

The 2024 Paris Olympic Games will make history as having full gender equality for the first time ever. 

In 2024, there will be 5,250 women competing in the Games, out of 10,500 athletes. That means there are 50% women competing and 50% men competing. 

“Full gender equality will have been achieved for the first time in Games history,” said paris2024.org. “Paris 2024 is proud to be making this happen.”

Before we head into these soon-to-be iconic Paris Games, let’s take a look back at some history of women at the Olympics, including when they started competing and who stood out:

When did women first participate in the Summer Olympic Games?

Women were first included in the Games during the 1900 Olympics. That year, 22 of 997 total athletes were women, and they participated in lawn tennis and golf.

When did the Summer Olympics shift from including only men to men and women?

During the early years, better known as the “ancient” Olympic times, competition was limited to male athletes only.

In fact, the only way for women to even remotely participate was for them to enter their horses into equestrian events. Owning and entering a horse into an event, not riding the horses, were the only option women had to make any sort of mark in the Games. And usually the women weren’t even allowed to be present at these events. 

Later, when the Olympics shifted from “ancient” to more of a modern competition, women were still not included. In fact, a Women’s Olympics was created for those who were excluded from the actual Olympic Games. The Women’s Olympics was created and played through the years of 1922 to 1934.

As aforementioned, in 1900, women were granted permission to participate in lawn tennis and golf. And in 1928, women’s athletics and gymnastics saw its birth at the Games.

As time went on, more and more women’s events were introduced, including archery in 1904, the javelin throw in 1932, field hockey in 1980, table tennis in 1988 and badminton in 1992.

The year 2000 was a notable one for women. A number of events were added to the Olympic program for women, including weightlifting, modern pentathlon, taekwondo, triathlon and gymnastics trampoline.

And in 2004, women’s wrestling debuted, as did fencing. Baseball and boxing still remained exclusive to men until 2012, when boxing finally made its debut for women. This decision, mixed with the IOC’s decision to drop baseball from the program, made 2012 the first time in Olympics history where women competed at every sport in the Summer Games.

Which sports did women compete in for the first time at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics?

Both men and women competed in the new sports at the Tokyo Games: sport climbing, karate, surfing and skateboarding. 

When were transgender athletes included at the Olympics?

Transgender athletes have been allowed to participate in the Olympic Games since 2004.

Athletes experiencing gender changes in Olympic sports has always been something dealt with by the individual sports federation that was applicable. But then, something changed. The number of these cases escalated so much that it was inevitable to alter the rules.

"Although individuals who undergo sex reassignment usually have personal problems that make sports competition an unlikely activity for them, there are some for whom participation in sport is important," said IOC Medical Commission Chairman Arne Ljungqvist.

This led to a ruling that was approved by the IOC board and kickstarted for the 2004 Athens Games. It covered both male-to-female and female-to-male cases. 

The 2020 Tokyo Summer Games marked the first time a trans woman competed in the Olympics. Laurel Hubbard entered the women’s super heavyweight weightlifting event. She left the women’s +87kg competition medal-less after three failed lifts. 

Who are some women who made history at the Summer Olympics and Paralympics?

Here are some women who made their mark on the Olympic contest:

Katie Ledecky – Swimming

After breaking the Olympics trail record in the 800-meter freestyle, Ledecky became the youngest member of the 2012 U.S. Olympic team.

Right before becoming a sophomore in high school, Ledecky won her first Olympic gold medal event at the Games. Four years later in Rio, she became the second woman to ever win the 200-, 400- and 800-meter freestyle events. 

She is now a seven-time Olympic gold medalist and a 15-time world championships gold medalist. She is the most decorated female swimmer of all time, after clinching two gold and two silver medals at the 2020 Tokyo Games.

Raven Saunders – Track And field

The eccentric, Charleston, S.C. native competed in two events at the 2020 Games in Tokyo, Japan. After competing in shot put and discus throw, Saunders clinched the silver medal in shot put at the Tokyo Games.

The LGBTQ+ and mental health advocate made her mark at the podium when she received her silver medal. During the medal ceremony, Saunders stepped off the podium and raised her arms in the shape of an “X” to illustrate “the intersection of where all people who are oppressed meet.”

According to Team USA, Saunders “wanted to give light to people all over the world who are fighting and don’t have the platform to speak up for themselves.”

Tatyana McFadden – Para track And field

This six-time Paralympic athlete and 20-time medalist competed in a total of six events during the 2020 Tokyo Summer Paralympics. She assisted Team USA to clinch its first ever gold medal in the 4x1000-meter universal relay. She also contributed to Team USA’s silver in the 800-meter and bronze in the 5,000-meter.

Back in 2013, McFadden became the first person to complete the marathon grand slam by winning Chicago, Boston, London and New York, all within the same year. She turned out to repeat this spectacular accomplishment three more times.

Anastasia Pagonis – Para Swimming

The 18-year-old Long Island, N.Y., native, who also happens to be visually impaired, made her debut at the 2020 Tokyo Summer Paralympics after setting a world record in the 400-meter freestyle S11. This same event, which happened to be her first event in Tokyo 2020, resulted in Team USA’s first gold medal of the Games.

Pagonis competed in three additional events, clinching a bronze medal in the 200-meter individual relay.