It took how long?!: Inclusion of women’s sport at the Olympic Games
Did you know that it took 108 years after men’s wrestling and boxing were first part of the Olympic programme for women’s wrestling and boxing to be included? That women did not have the opportunity to compete in an Olympic marathon until 1984? That it wasn’t until 2012 that women competed in every sport on the summer Olympic programme?
Paris 2024 marked a significant moment for gender equity in the Olympic movement. For the first time in the history of the Olympic Games, an equal number of quota spots were available for men and women, making them the first Games to achieve gender parity.
As we celebrate progress in gender equity, it is important to acknowledge the tireless work that it has taken to get to this point, and some significant pushback that women’s sport has encountered along the way.
And the work is far from over. Women remain underrepresented in many other areas of the Games, including but not limited to, coaches, officials, and media. The Olympic Winter Games have yet to achieve gender parity for athletes, though Milano Cortina 2026 is set to be the most gender-balanced Games yet with 47 per cent of quota spots allocated to women.
In the spirit of remembering the efforts of the past as we continue to push towards the future, below is a list acknowledging the Olympic sports for which there was a gender gap in the inclusion of women’s competition versus men’s.
Paris 1900: Only men competed at the first modern Olympic Games in 1896. Four years later, at Paris 1900, 22 women competed, compared to 975 men. There were women’s events in tennis and golf, and women competed alongside men in croquet and sailing.
St. Louis 1904: Women’s archery debuts at the Games. Men’s archery had debuted four years earlier, at Paris 1900.
Stockholm 1912: Women’s swimming makes its Olympic debut, although women are only allowed to compete in two events, versus the seven available for men, who had been competing in Olympic swimming since 1896, marking a 16 year gender gap. Swimming was the first “major” Olympic sport to include women. Stockholm 1912 also marked the debut of women’s diving, which had been open to men for eight years, since St. Louis 1904.
Paris 1924: Women’s fencing debuts at the Olympic Games, 28 years after men’s fencing. At this time, women only had one event available to them, while men had six.
Amsterdam 1928: Women’s athletics and artistic gymnastics make their Olympic debuts. Men’s competition for both sports had existed since the first modern Olympic Games in 1896, marking a gender gap of 32 years.
There were only five women’s athletics events available for women, compared to the 22 available for men. There was only one women’s artistic gymnastics team event, while men had a team event as well as six individual events.
One of the women’s athletics events at Amsterdam 1928 was the 800m. In direct contradiction to what transpired on the track, media reported afterwards that several women collapsed and others could not finish the 800m race. This account gained traction despite photographic and video evidence showing that all nine women completed the race and that a couple of them laid down on the track after a world-record effort (as was common for male athletes to do). The IOC and IAAF proceeded to bar women from competing in races longer than 200m for over 30 years under the patronising guise of “protecting” women from themselves.
London 1948: Women’s kayaking debuts at the Olympic Games. Only one event is available to women, while men had the opportunity to compete in two kayak events as well as two canoe events (which women would wait seven more decades to compete in, more on that below). Men’s paddling had been part of the Olympic program since 1936, marking a gender gap of 12 years.
Oslo 1952: Women’s cross-country skiing debuts at the Olympic Games. Men had competed in cross-country skiing since the inaugural Olympic Winter Games in 1924, marking a gender gap of 28 years.
Helsinki 1952: Women are allowed to compete in Olympic equestrian events for the first time, 52 years after men began competing in equestrian at Paris 1900. At these Games, women were limited to competing only in dressage. Four years later, they would be allowed to compete in jumping and then finally eventing at Tokyo 1964.
Squaw Valley 1960: Women’s speed skating makes its official Olympic debut, 36 years after men’s speed skating was on the program of the first Olympic Winter Games.
Mexico City 1968: Women compete in Olympic shooting for the first time, while men had been competing in it since the first modern Olympic Games 72 years earlier. Starting at Mexico City 1968, women competed directly against men. Separate women’s shooting events were not included until 1984.
Montreal 1976: Women’s rowing debuts at the Olympic Games 76 years after men’s rowing was first included. Women’s basketball debuts 40 years after men’s basketball.
Moscow 1980: Women’s field hockey makes its Olympic debut, marking a gender gap of 72 years after men’s field hockey was part of the program.
Los Angeles 1984: LA 1984 features the first Olympic women’s marathon. The men’s marathon had been contested since the beginning of the modern Olympic Games in 1896, marking a gender gap of 88 years. Women’s road cycling also made its Olympic debut 88 years after the men’s competition.
The 1984 Olympic Games were also when the first two women-only sports were included on the Olympic programme—rhythmic gymnastics and synchronized (now artistic) swimming.
Seoul 1988: Women’s track cycling debuts at the Olympic Games. Only one event was available to women versus the five available for men. Track cycling for men was included in 1896, marking a 92-year gender gap. Seoul 1988 also marks the debut of separate sailing events for women.
Albertville 1992: Women’s biathlon makes its Olympic debut 32 years after the inclusion of men’s biathlon.
Barcelona 1992: Women’s judo debuts at the Olympic Games 28 years after men’s competition.
Atlanta 1996: Women’s soccer makes its Olympic debut 96 years after men’s soccer.
Nagano 1998: Women’s hockey debuts 78 years after men’s hockey became an Olympic sport during the summer Games at Antwerp 1920. Women’s curling debuts as the sport returns to the Olympic programme for the first time since 1924 (where there had only been a men’s event).
Sydney 2000: Women’s weightlifting makes its debut at the Olympic Games, 104 years after men’s weightlifting, which was one of the original sports of the modern Olympic Games. Women’s water polo made its Olympic debut a century after the men’s competition. Women’s modern pentathlon made its Olympic debut 88 years after the men’s sport.
Salt Lake City 2002: Women’s bobsleigh is contested at the Olympic Games for the first time, 78 years after men competed in the sport at the first Olympic Winter Games.
Athens 2004: Women’s wrestling makes its Olympic debut. Men’s wrestling was one of the sports included in the first edition of the modern Olympic Games, making for a gender gap of 108 years.
London 2012: Women’s boxing makes its Olympic debut. Men first competed in Olympic boxing in 1904, making for a 108-year gender gap. Boxing was the last summer Olympic sport that was for men only, so London 2012 marked the first Games where women competed in every sport on the summer Olympic programme.
Sochi 2014: Women’s ski jumping makes its Olympic debut, 90 years after the men’s edition of the sport.
Tokyo 2020: Women’s canoe events debut at the Olympic Games, 84 years after men were given the opportunity to compete in canoe events.