Women and the Olympic Dream

Kristina Groves - Bronze Medalist

There is Olympic fever in my house. I'm really enjoying checking in on the events and personalities both on TV and at http://www.ctvolympics.ca/. The young women who are competing for Canada haven't achieved this honor simply by their talent and hard work. Each one has been affected by the sacrifice of someone else - a parent, sibling, grandparent, coach, friend, rival. What they may not realize is that unknown women pioneered a way so that those coming behind them could compete in sports they love. Here are a few interesting facts about women and the Olympic dream:

• Around 776 BC the first Olympics were held in ancient Greece. This was just one of several Games that were open to all Greeks, but it was the most prestigious. Women were excluded from participating or even watching the Olympics. Legend says that women who were caught as spectators would be thrown off a cliff, but there is no evidence that this ever happened.
• Women established their own Games of Hera, to honor the Greek goddess whom they believed ruled over women and the earth. Unlike men who competed naked, women wore clothes.
• 1896 - the first modern Olympic Games was held in Athens. Fourteen countries were represented by about 245 men competing in 43 events. No women competed, as Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the Games, felt their inclusion would be "impractical, uninteresting, unaesthetic and incorrect." He wanted women to place the laurels around the necks of the victors, which is what they did. In these Victorian times, many people of both genders believed that women were fragile creatures who should be sheltered from shock and who were prone to fainting (although those corsets probably played a part in this phenomenon!). Baron de Coubertin spoke for many when he said, "It is indecent that the spectators should be exposed to the risk of seeing the body of a woman being smashed before their very eyes. Besides, no matter how toughened a sportswoman may be, her organism is not cut out to sustain certain shocks." Despite de Coubertin's concern, a woman named Melpomene, although barred from the official marathon race, ran the same course as the men, finishing in 4 hours 30 minutes, with no apparent damage to her "organism."
• The second modern Games was held in Paris in 1900 where 1,319 men from 26 countries competed in 75 events. Eleven women competed in lawn tennis and golf.
• In 1928 at the Amsterdam Games women competed in track and field events for the first time. However, so many collapsed at the end of the 800-meter race that the event was banned until 1960. Six Canadian women, called the "Matchless Six", took two gold medals, one silver and one bronze, and set world records in track and field. They were Bobbie Resenfeld, Myrtle Cook, Ethel Smith, Jane Bell, Jean Thompson and Ethel Catherwood.
• The 1912 Games in Stockholm saw women competing in swimming events for the first time but none of them were from America which barred its female athletes from competing in events without long skirts. Women also competed in gymnastics.
• In the early 1960's the International Olympic Committee (IOC) became suspicious that the results from the top competitors were too good for girls and that some of the athletes might actually be men. They required women to prove their sex. The athletes had to parade naked in front of a panel of doctors and, in some cases submit to gynecological exams. There was outrage from some corners and the IOC searched for a more scientific solution to catching"impostors".
• Starting in 1968, women athletes had scrapings from their cheeks tested for male chromosomes. Although this test was not very accurate ( about a 20% fail rate) the IOC persisted in using it for another 30 years. In the meantime, athletes quietly left competitions, devastated by false results.
• Sydney Games, 2000 - the first games where women athletes were no longer required to prove their gender.

Today the Olympics is the foremost sporting event for Canadian women, because there are few professional opportunities for elite female athletes. But women can be part of the mythology of the Olympics. Jennifer Hiel, Marianne St. Galais, Kristina Groves and all the other women on our Canadian team are standing on the shoulders of those who broke open the doors of opportunity for every woman who loves sport and has an Olympic dream!