Abstract
First held in 1896, the Modern Olympic Games have always privileged some groups of athletes over others. Organized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), a group of self-elected men (and, since 1981, a very small number of women), the Olympic sporting program is by no means representative of world sporting practices. The eligibility rules, both explicit and implicit, have been variously based on sex, gender, sexuality, social class, nationality, religion, race/ethnicity and/or ability, thereby enabling the participation of some groups while posing barriers to others. The founders of the modern Olympics, led by Pierre de Coubertin, prioritized the sporting achievement model, as represented by the faster/higher/stronger Olympic ethos, thereby disadvantaging women as a gender group, as well as rejecting the more inclusive fitness and body experience models of sport that were practiced in many European countries in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
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Notes
- 1.
For a more detailed explanation of these three models of sport based on Henning Eichberg’s work, see Lenskyj, H. (2012) Gender Politics and the Olympic Industry (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan), Chapter 2.
- 2.
See, for example, Wamsley, K. and Schultz, G. (2000) Rogues and bedfellows: The IOC and the incorporation of the FSFI, in Proceedings of Fifth International Symposium for Olympic Research (London, Ontario: University of Western Ontario), 113–118; Kidd, B. (1996) The Struggle for Canadian Sport (Toronto: University of Toronto Press).
- 3.
The main secondary sources used in this chapter are Guy Schultz’s MA thesis, the IAAF and the IOC: Their relationship and its impact on women’s participation in track and field at the Olympic Games, 1912–1932 (London Ontario: University of Western Ontario, 2000) and Adams, C. (2002) Fighting for acceptance, in Proceedings of the Sixth International Symposium for Olympic Studies (London Ontario: University of Western Ontario), 143–8.
- 4.
See, for example, Inside the Olympic Industry (Albany NY: SUNY Press, 2000).
- 5.
Athletics and Olympism, ibid., 475.
- 6.
Marie-Therese Eyquem quoted in Leigh, M. and Bonin, T. (1977) The pioneering role of Madame Alice Milliat and the FSFI in establishing international track and field competition for women, Journal of Sport History 4:1, 74.
- 7.
Allen Guttman pointed out this common error in his entry, Alice Milliat, in the Encyclopedia of Women’s Sport, Vol. 2 (New York: Macmillan, 2000), 743.
- 8.
Terret, T. (2010) From Alice Milliat to Marie-Therese Eyquem, International Journal of the History of Sport 27:7, 1157.
- 9.
Leigh and Bonin, ibid., 78–9.
- 10.
Milliat cited in Terret, 1163.
- 11.
Participation of Women in the Olympic Games (May 28, 1935), Official Bulletin of the International Olympic Committee, 11
- 12.
Szreter, A. (9 October, 1998) Obituary: Vera Searle, The Independent, 7.
- 13.
Coubertin’s views, cited by Eyquem, in Leigh and Bonin, ibid., 73.
- 14.
For sources other than official IOC publications, see, for example, Leigh and Bonin, ibid.; Wamsley and Schultz, ibid.; Terret, ibid.
- 15.
Leigh and Bonin, ibid.
- 16.
Leigh and Bonin, ibid., 77.
- 17.
Adams, ibid., 144.
- 18.
Cited in Quintallan, G. (2000). Alice Milliat and the Women’s Games, Olympic Review XXVI:31, 27.
- 19.
See, for example, Leigh and Bonin, ibid., 76; Quintallan, ibid., 27.
- 20.
Milliat quoted in Quintallan, 27.
- 21.
Milliat quoted in Leigh and Bonin, ibid., 76, from 1934 interview in Independent Woman. See also Terret, ibid.
- 22.
Terret, ibid., 1156.
- 23.
Quintallan, ibid.
- 24.
Gutmann, ibid., 744.
- 25.
Athletics and Olympism (1983) Olympic Review, 475.
- 26.
Athletics and Olympism, ibid., 475–6.
- 27.
Ware, S. (2005) An Irishwoman’s part in admission of women’s athletics to the Olympic Games – Sophie Peirce, Journal of Olympic History 13, 13–14.
- 28.
Ware, ibid. Eliott-Lynn’s birth name was Sophie Peirce-Evans, her first husband was Major Eliott-Lynn and her second husband was Sir James Heath. Most sources refer to her as Lady Sophie Eliott-Lynn (also spelled Elliot-Lynn).
- 29.
Eliott-Lynn, S. (2005, first published 1925) Women’s participation in athletics, Journal of Olympic History 13, 14.
References
Adams, C. (2002). Fighting for acceptance. Proceedings of the sixth international symposium for Olympic studies (pp. 143–148). London: University of Western Ontario.
Athletics and Olympism. (1983). Olympic review, 475.
Eliott-Lynn, S. (2005, first published 1925). Women’s participation in athletics. Journal of Olympic History, 13, 14.
Leigh, M., & Bonin, T. (1977). The pioneering role of Madame Alice Milliat and the FSFI in establishing international track and field competition for women. Journal of Sport History, 4(1), 74.
Lenskyj, H. (2012). Gender politics and the Olympic industry. Basingstoke: Palgrave.
Quintallan, G. (2000). Alice Milliat and the women’s games. Olympic Review, XXVI(31), 27.
Schultz, G. (2000). The IAAF and the IOC: Their relationship and its impact on women’s participation in track and field at the Olympic Games, 1912–1932. M.A. thesis, University of Western Ontario, London.
Terret, T. (2010). From Alice Milliat to Marie-Therese Eyquem. International Journal of the History of Sport, 27(7), 1154–1172.
Wamsley, K., & Schultz, G. (2000). Rogues and bedfellows: The IOC and the incorporation of the FSFI. Proceedings of fifth international symposium for Olympic research (pp. 113–118). London: University of Western Ontario.
Ware, S. (2005). An Irishwoman’s part in admission of women’s athletics to the Olympic Games – Sophie Peirce. Journal of Olympic History, 13, 13–14.
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Lenskyj, H.J. (2016). Women’s Olympics: Protest, Strategy or Both?. In: Dart, J., Wagg, S. (eds) Sport, Protest and Globalisation. Global Culture and Sport Series. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-46492-7_3
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