Exclusion of Women in Athens in 1896, Equality in Tokyo in 2021

Sports, since ancient times, have been a field of glory for men, but were prohibited for women. However, the first feminists of the 19th century reacted practically to the notion that the social role of women should be confined to the family. Stamatia Rovithi from Syros, 35 years old and mother of seven children, and Melpomene from Corfu, as a sign of protest and reaction to their exclusion from the first 1896 Olympics, ran the marathon Olympic course on their own, in 5½ hours and 4½ hours respectively, without waiting for or receiving any recognition. Similar reactions occurred in other European countries. In France, under the initiative of athlete Alice Milliat, women’s Olympics were organized, the “Women’s Olympic Games,” from 1921 to 1936 (see Irini Kamberidou, EKPA, 20/3/2013). In ancient times, similar female competitions, the “Heraia,” were dedicated to the goddess Hera, held every four years, without overlapping with the male Games.

The first international Olympic Games were held in Athens from March 25 to April 3, 1896. The initiative for their organization and the establishment of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) was led by the French educator Pierre de Coubertin. Athens was chosen as the ideal location at the conference held in Paris in 1894. The participation of women was excluded from the outset. Certainly, the stance of the male-dominated IOC at the end of the 19th century reflected the broader social views, ignorance, and superstitions about the relationship of women with their bodies, physical exercise, sports, and fundamental rights. Engaging in sports was considered harmful to women both biologically and mentally!
Thanks to the pressure from feminists, particularly from the United Kingdom and the United States, the participation of women in certain sports was gradually allowed. In the second Olympic Games, Paris 1900, women participated in tennis and golf. Gradually, women were also allowed to compete in sports such as archery (1908), swimming (1912), and fencing (1924).

The 1896 Olympic Games, despite being held in a difficult economic and political context, when Greece was financially bankrupt, were a great success and saw a massive and enthusiastic participation from the Greek public. A key moment was the victory of Spyros Louis in the marathon. The excitement caused by the Games is documented in a handwritten testimony found in Syros by the gymnastics teacher Georgios Kipiotis (1872-1971):

In the squares and streets of Athens, children, girls, adults, and even the elderly engaged daily in throwing stones, jumping over ropes, and various other games resembling the Olympic sports, thus transforming the capital into a grand athletic arena and putting the physical integrity of passersby at risk (Theo Rombos and Mintilou, 2016, Georgios Kipiotis – testimony, Panopticon Publishing, p. 14).

After the conclusion of the Games, King George I and many athletes supported the idea of hosting the next Games in Athens. However, Coubertin was opposed, as Paris had already been chosen as the next host city. Since then, except for the intercalated Summer Olympics of 1906, the Games returned to Greece in 2004, with significant female participation (4,329 female athletes out of a total of 10,625). The recognition of gender equality as a universal value and structural changes contributed to the gradually increasing access and prominence of women in “taboo” areas such as sports. In the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, 5,656 male athletes and 5,435 female athletes participated. This represents the greatest gender equality in the history of sports. We move forward!

Note: Published in the newspaper Ta NEA, p. 7, Tuesday, August 10, 2021

Anna Karamanu,
Former President of the FEMM Committee of the European Parliament
Doctor, NKUA