ABSTRACT
Introduction Subsumed within the lengthy 1900 Exposition Universelle, the 1900 Olympic Games were disorganized and lasted for more than four months. This troubled Pierre de Coubertin, who was even more perturbed that 22 women had taken part in five sports (tennis, golf, croquet, boating, equestrianism). Among the small number of pioneers seven were from the United States. Three of them won a gold, a silver, or a bronze medal in golf (nine holes) and a fourth won two bronze medals in tennis (women’s singles and mixed doubles).1 Things would be remarkably different at the 2012 London Olympics, where for the first time the United States was represented by more female (269) than male (261) athletes; they also won more medals (29 gold, 14 silver, and 15 bronze) than did the men. Moreover, for the first time all of the participating countries had sent at least one female athlete, offering powerful illustrations of what females now have achieved.2
