Women's sport at the Olympics
Encyclopedia
Olympic recognition is an important issue for women's sport like netball, women's cycling, field hockey and lawn bowls. Sports that have been historically popular with women often are not included in the Olympics or are only recent additions to the games. The lack of women's sport appearing in the games often means less media attention, funding and fewer opportunities for sponsorship. The Olympics made it harder to get new sports included in Olympic programme.
, a sport included for men as early as 1908 but not competed by women until 1980. Lawn bowls is a popular women's sport that has been included in the Commonwealth Games
for many years but has not made the Olympic program. While primarily a sport for women, netball allows for mixed gendered teams, but the Olympics do not allow mixed gendered team sports.
The issues facing netball are part of a larger problem involving female participation in the Olympics. At the 1992 Summer Olympics
in Barcelona
, there were 159 sports for men to compete in, but only 86 sports for women, and 12 sports for both men and women. At the 2000 Summer Olympics
, there were still sports that women were excluded from participating in, such as boxing
, wrestling
and baseball
; softball was included as a women-only event. The issue of male over-representation in terms of total number of sports and athletes is structural. In the United Kingdom
, for example, more male athletes than female athletes received financial support. Sports officials rationalised this uneven distribution of funding by claiming that there are more opportunities for men to win on the highest level than there are comparable opportunities for women. The importance of netball being included as a competition sport in the Summer Olympics has been compared to softball
, and the benefits that the sport derived from Olympic inclusion. This included additional media attention and television coverage, especially during Olympic years. Olympic recognition plays an important part in getting sponsorship for local competitions around the world. It also plays an important role in providing recognition to and opportunities for female that may not be available otherwise.
The selection of women's teams sport in the Olympics may not match with interest levels in a country. In Australia for example, 245,300 total women and girls play basketball, hockey, soccer, softball and volleyball. This compares to 319,500 women and girls who play netball.
. In some countries such as Tanzania, the lack of access to Olympic funding cut off other funding options such funding by British Council
. With official recognition, funding from the IOC, the Olympic Solidarity Movement and the British Council became available to cover costs for travel to international competitions. For some nations, without that assistance, trying to maintain international calibre teams was difficult. Olympic recognition brought money for development into the sport. In 2004, IFNA received a grant of from the IOC for development. IFNA was given an additional a year until 2007 by the Association of IOC Recognised International Sports (ARISF).
Beyond access to funds from the International Olympic Committee, Olympic recognition is often a requirement for getting funding from state and national sporting bodies, and state and federal governments. This has been the case in Australia, and British Columbia
, Canada
. In 1985, the Australian Sports Commission
and the Office of the Status of Women identified five criteria for obtaining federal funding. One of these was: "status as an Olympic sport and its size by registrations." In British Columbia, one of the guidelines says that in order to receive funding, "The sport must be on the program for either the 2011 or 2013 Canada Games and/or the next scheduled recognized International Multi-Sport Games (Olympics/Paralympics, Pan American or Commonwealth Games, Special Olympic World Games);"
since 1976
.
as part of their effort to increase the number of female athletes at the Olympics. Women's hockey had not been in the programme when Nagano, Japan had won the right to host the Olympics, and the decision required approval by the Nagano Winter Olympic Organizing Committee (NWOOC). The NWOOC was initially hesitant to include the event because of the additional costs of staging the tournament and because they felt their team, which had failed to qualify for that year's World Championships, could not be competitive. According to Glynis Peters, the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association
's (CAHA) head of female hockey, "the Japanese would have to finance an entirely new sports operation to bring their team up to Olympic standards in six years, which they were also really reluctant to do." In November 1992, the NWOOC and IOC Coordination Committee reached an agreement to include a women's ice hockey tournament in the programme. Part of the agreement was that the tournament would be limited to six teams, and no additional facilities would be built. The CAHA also agreed to help build and train the Japanese team so that it could be more competitive. The IOC had agreed that if the NWOOC had not approved the event, it would be held at the 2002 Winter Olympics
. The format of the first tournament was similar to the men's: preliminary round-robin games followed by a medal round playoff.
The 1996 Olympics also marked a key era in the introduction of technology in softball; the IOC funded a landmark biomechanical study on pitching during the games. The 117th meeting
of the International Olympic Committee
, held in Singapore
in July 2005, voted to drop softball and baseball
for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games. Attempts to get softball readded to the Olympic program for the 2016 games
failed when the International Olympic Committee executive board instead selected golf and rugby sevens. The United States have won three of the four Olympic tournaments
.
was Australia's first female gold medalist. She earned this medal at the 1912 Summer Olympics
, where she represented a combined team of Australia and New Zealand, known as the Australiasian team.
Participation costs for Australian athletes, costs like travel to and lodging at, early Olympic games were expected to be paid by the local sport federation sponsoring the athlete. .
In early Australian swimming history as it pertains to the Olympics, there was an attempt to prevent women from participating by male Australian swimming administrators.
Olympic recognition
Throughout the history of the Olympics, sports popular exclusively with women or that have been very popular with women have been excluded. The situation extends beyond the popular women's sport of netball to women's cycling, which was excluded for many years despite having world championships for women being organised by 1958. It extends to field hockeyField hockey
Field Hockey, or Hockey, is a team sport in which a team of players attempts to score goals by hitting, pushing or flicking a ball into an opposing team's goal using sticks...
, a sport included for men as early as 1908 but not competed by women until 1980. Lawn bowls is a popular women's sport that has been included in the Commonwealth Games
Commonwealth Games
The Commonwealth Games is an international, multi-sport event involving athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930 and takes place every four years....
for many years but has not made the Olympic program. While primarily a sport for women, netball allows for mixed gendered teams, but the Olympics do not allow mixed gendered team sports.
The issues facing netball are part of a larger problem involving female participation in the Olympics. At the 1992 Summer Olympics
1992 Summer Olympics
The 1992 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event celebrated in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, in 1992. The International Olympic Committee voted in 1986 to separate the Summer and Winter Games, which had been held in the same...
in Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
, there were 159 sports for men to compete in, but only 86 sports for women, and 12 sports for both men and women. At the 2000 Summer Olympics
2000 Summer Olympics
The Sydney 2000 Summer Olympic Games or the Millennium Games/Games of the New Millennium, officially known as the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated between 15 September and 1 October 2000 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...
, there were still sports that women were excluded from participating in, such as boxing
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
, wrestling
Wrestling
Wrestling is a form of grappling type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. A wrestling bout is a physical competition, between two competitors or sparring partners, who attempt to gain and maintain a superior position...
and baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
; softball was included as a women-only event. The issue of male over-representation in terms of total number of sports and athletes is structural. In the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, for example, more male athletes than female athletes received financial support. Sports officials rationalised this uneven distribution of funding by claiming that there are more opportunities for men to win on the highest level than there are comparable opportunities for women. The importance of netball being included as a competition sport in the Summer Olympics has been compared to softball
Softball
Softball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of 10 to 14 players. It is a direct descendant of baseball although there are some key differences: softballs are larger than baseballs, and the pitches are thrown underhand rather than overhand...
, and the benefits that the sport derived from Olympic inclusion. This included additional media attention and television coverage, especially during Olympic years. Olympic recognition plays an important part in getting sponsorship for local competitions around the world. It also plays an important role in providing recognition to and opportunities for female that may not be available otherwise.
The selection of women's teams sport in the Olympics may not match with interest levels in a country. In Australia for example, 245,300 total women and girls play basketball, hockey, soccer, softball and volleyball. This compares to 319,500 women and girls who play netball.
Development of women's sport
The lack of Olympic recognition hampered the globalisation of the game in developing countries, because the Olympic Solidarity Movement provides access to funding for these nations through the International Olympic CommitteeInternational Olympic Committee
The International Olympic Committee is an international corporation based in Lausanne, Switzerland, created by Pierre de Coubertin on 23 June 1894 with Demetrios Vikelas as its first president...
. In some countries such as Tanzania, the lack of access to Olympic funding cut off other funding options such funding by British Council
British Council
The British Council is a United Kingdom-based organisation specialising in international educational and cultural opportunities. It is registered as a charity both in England and Wales, and in Scotland...
. With official recognition, funding from the IOC, the Olympic Solidarity Movement and the British Council became available to cover costs for travel to international competitions. For some nations, without that assistance, trying to maintain international calibre teams was difficult. Olympic recognition brought money for development into the sport. In 2004, IFNA received a grant of from the IOC for development. IFNA was given an additional a year until 2007 by the Association of IOC Recognised International Sports (ARISF).
Beyond access to funds from the International Olympic Committee, Olympic recognition is often a requirement for getting funding from state and national sporting bodies, and state and federal governments. This has been the case in Australia, and British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. In 1985, the Australian Sports Commission
Australian Sports Commission
The Australian Sports Commission is the governing body responsible for distributing funds and providing strategic guidance for sporting activity in Australia. It is an agency of the Government of Australia within the portfolio of Health and Ageing...
and the Office of the Status of Women identified five criteria for obtaining federal funding. One of these was: "status as an Olympic sport and its size by registrations." In British Columbia, one of the guidelines says that in order to receive funding, "The sport must be on the program for either the 2011 or 2013 Canada Games and/or the next scheduled recognized International Multi-Sport Games (Olympics/Paralympics, Pan American or Commonwealth Games, Special Olympic World Games);"
Attending the games
In some countries like Australia, getting funding for women to participate in the Olympics during the early years of the Games was difficult. In Australia, the swimming federation did not not want to spend money to send female athletes to compete in the games; rather, they wanted to spend money to fund more participation of male swimmers.Media coverage
Historically, coverage and inclusion of women's team sports in the Olympics has been limited. Instead, the media focuses on female athletes in non-team competitions and on team sports played equally by both genders.Rome 1960
The role American women at the Olympics gained in importance and visibility compared to their male American peers.Basketball
Women's basketball has been contested in the Summer OlympicsBasketball at the Summer Olympics
Basketball has been a Summer Olympics sport for men consistently since 1936. Prior to its inclusion as a medal sport, it was held as demonstration event in 1904 and 1932, both in the United States. Women's basketball was played in the Olympics only since 1976....
since 1976
1976 Summer Olympics
The 1976 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXI Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event celebrated in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, in 1976. Montreal was awarded the rights to the 1976 Games on May 12, 1970, at the 69th IOC Session in Amsterdam, over the bids of Moscow and...
.
| Year | Host | Gold medal game | Bronze medal game | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gold medalist | Score | Silver medalist | Bronze medalist | Score | Fourth place | ||
| 1976 details Basketball at the 1976 Summer Olympics Basketball contests at the 1976 Summer Olympics took place from July 18 to July 27 at the Centre Étienne Desmarteau and the Montreal Forum in Montreal, Canada. Women's basketball was introduced to the Olympic program for the first time at this Games... |
Montreal Montreal Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America... |
No playoffs | No playoffs | ||||
| 1980 details Basketball at the 1980 Summer Olympics Basketball at the 1980 Summer Olympics was held from July 20 to July 30 at the Olympiiski Indoor Stadium and at the CSKA Sports Palace, both located in Moscow. Finals of both men's and women's events were held 30 July at the Olympiiski Indoor Stadium.... |
Moscow Moscow Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent... |
104-73 | 68-65 | ||||
| 1984 details Basketball at the 1984 Summer Olympics -Group B:-Championship bracket:-Classification brackets:5th–8th Place9th–12th Place-Preliminary Round:... |
Los Angeles Los Angeles, California Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California... |
85-55 | 63-57 | ||||
| 1988 details Basketball at the 1988 Summer Olympics Basketball at the 1988 Summer Olympics took place at the Jamsil Gymnasium in Seoul, South Korea. The United States won the gold medal in the women's competition, thus repeating their performance from the 1984 tournament. In the men's tournament, the Soviet Union took home their second gold medal in... |
Seoul Seoul Seoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world... |
77-70 | 68-53 | ||||
| 1992 details Basketball at the 1992 Summer Olympics The Basketball games of the 1992 Summer Olympics were played at the Pavelló Olímpic de Badalona. 12 men's teams and 8 women's teams participated in the tournament.... |
Barcelona Barcelona Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of... |
 Unified Team Unified Team at the 1992 Summer Olympics The Unified Team at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain, was a joint team consisting of twelve of the fifteen former Soviet republics. Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania competed separately. The team has been informally called the Commonwealth of Independent States team, though Georgia was... |
76-66 | 88-74 | |||
| 1996 details Basketball at the 1996 Summer Olympics Basketball contests at the 1996 Olympic Games were held from July 20, 1996 to August 4, 1996. Games took place at the Morehouse College Gymnasium and the Georgia Dome. For the second straight Olympic games, the American men's team composed almost entirely of NBA players won the gold medal... |
Atlanta Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in... |
111-87 | 66-56 | ||||
| 2000 details Basketball at the 2000 Summer Olympics -Group B:-Championship bracket:-Classification matches:-Preliminary round:The four best teams from each group advanced to the quarterfinal round.-Group A:-Group B:-Championship bracket:... |
Sydney Sydney Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people... |
76-54 | 84-73 | ||||
| 2004 details Basketball at the 2004 Summer Olympics Basketball at the 2004 Summer Olympics took place at the Helliniko Olympic Indoor Arena in Athens, Greece for the preliminary rounds, with the latter stages being held in the Olympic Indoor Hall at the Athens Olympic Sports Complex.... |
Athens Athens Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state... |
74-63 | 71-62 | ||||
| 2008 details Basketball at the 2008 Summer Olympics Basketball contests at the 2008 Olympic Games were held from August 9, 2008 to August 24, 2008. Competitions were held at the Wukesong Indoor Stadium in Beijing, China... |
Beijing Beijing Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's... |
92-65 | 94-81 | ||||
| 2012 details Basketball at the 2012 Summer Olympics - External links :**... |
London London London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its... |
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Ice hockey
At the 99th IOC Session in July 1992, the IOC voted to approve women's hockey as an Olympic event beginning with the 1998 Winter Olympics1998 Winter Olympics
The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially the XVIII Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event celebrated from 7 to 22 February 1998 in Nagano, Japan. Seventy-two nations and 2,176 participans contested in seven sports and 72 events at 15 venues. The games saw the introduction of Women's ice...
as part of their effort to increase the number of female athletes at the Olympics. Women's hockey had not been in the programme when Nagano, Japan had won the right to host the Olympics, and the decision required approval by the Nagano Winter Olympic Organizing Committee (NWOOC). The NWOOC was initially hesitant to include the event because of the additional costs of staging the tournament and because they felt their team, which had failed to qualify for that year's World Championships, could not be competitive. According to Glynis Peters, the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association
Canadian Amateur Hockey Association
The Canadian Amateur Hockey Association was the national governing body of amateur ice hockey play in Canada from 1914 until 1994 when it merged with the Canadian Hockey Association or Hockey Canada....
's (CAHA) head of female hockey, "the Japanese would have to finance an entirely new sports operation to bring their team up to Olympic standards in six years, which they were also really reluctant to do." In November 1992, the NWOOC and IOC Coordination Committee reached an agreement to include a women's ice hockey tournament in the programme. Part of the agreement was that the tournament would be limited to six teams, and no additional facilities would be built. The CAHA also agreed to help build and train the Japanese team so that it could be more competitive. The IOC had agreed that if the NWOOC had not approved the event, it would be held at the 2002 Winter Olympics
2002 Winter Olympics
The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event that was celebrated in February 2002 in and around Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. Approximately 2,400 athletes from 77 nations participated in 78 events in fifteen disciplines, held throughout...
. The format of the first tournament was similar to the men's: preliminary round-robin games followed by a medal round playoff.
| 1998 Nagano Ice hockey at the 1998 Winter Olympics Ice hockey at the 1998 Winter Olympics was played at The Big Hat and Aqua Wing Arena in Nagano, Japan.-Men's tournament:The 1998 Olympic men's ice hockey tournament was the first in which professional players from the National Hockey League were allowed to participate, allowing national teams to... |
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| 2002 Salt Lake City Ice hockey at the 2002 Winter Olympics Ice hockey at the 2002 Winter Olympics were held at the E Center in West Valley City and Peaks Ice Arena in Provo, Utah. Both the men's and women's tournaments were won by Canada, defeating the host USA in both games.-Men:... |
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| 2006 Turin Ice hockey at the 2006 Winter Olympics -Leading scorers:-Leading goaltenders:Goalkeepers with 40% or more of their team's total minutes.-Awards:Antero Niittymäki was named the most valuable player and received the Directorate Award for best goaltender of the tournament. Directorate Awards also went to Teemu Selänne for best forward, and... |
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| 2010 Vancouver Ice hockey at the 2010 Winter Olympics Ice hockey at the 2010 Winter Olympics was held at Canada Hockey Place, home of the National Hockey League's Vancouver Canucks, and at UBC Winter Sports Centre, home of the Canadian Interuniversity Sport's UBC Thunderbirds. Twelve teams competed in the men's event and eight teams competed in the... |
Luge
| 1964 Innsbruck Luge at the 1964 Winter Olympics -Men's singles:-Men's doubles:-Women's singles:-Medal table:-References:***... |
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| 1968 Grenoble Luge at the 1968 Winter Olympics -Men's singles:-Doubles:With his win in the doubles, Thomas Köhler becomes the first person to win in both men's singles and doubles.-Women's singles:... |
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| 1972 Sapporo Luge at the 1972 Winter Olympics -Men's singles:-Doubles:A malfunctioning starting gate cancelled the results of the first run. Italy, whose doubles team of Paul Hildgartner and Walter Plaikner won the first run, protested to event officials the results should stand since all contestants had suffered equally, but to no avail.... |
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| 1976 Innsbruck Luge at the 1976 Winter Olympics -Men's singles:Silver medalist Josef Fendt is the current President of the International Luge Federation .-Doubles:-Women's singles:-Medal table:-References:***... |
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| 1980 Lake Placid Luge at the 1980 Winter Olympics -Men's singles:-Doubles:The doubles team of Hans Rinn and Norbert Hahn became the first repeat winners of an Olympic luge event.-Women's singles:-Medal table:-References:***... |
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| 1984 Sarajevo Luge at the 1984 Winter Olympics -Men's singles:With his win, Paul Hildgartner becomes the second person to win in both men's singles and doubles . He joins Thomas Köhler, who won the men's singles in 1964 and the doubles in 1968.-Doubles:-Women's singles:-Medal table:-References:... |
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| 1988 Calgary Luge at the 1988 Winter Olympics Luge at the 1988 Winter Olympics was held at the Canada Olympic Park in Calgary, Alberta, Canada-Men's singles:-Doubles:-Women's singles:Walter becomes the first woman to repeat as women's singles champion.-Medal table:-References:***... |
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| 1992 Albertville Luge at the 1992 Winter Olympics The 1992 Winter Olympic Games Luge resultsThe venue was the bobsleigh and luge track of La Plagne, about 70 km from host city Albertville.-Men's singles:February 10, 1992-Doubles:February 14, 1992-Women's singles:February 12, 1992... |
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| 1994 Lillehammer Luge at the 1994 Winter Olympics -Men's singles:February 13/February 14, 1994-Doubles:February 18, 1994All three Huber brothers would medal at the 1994 Games. Wilfried earned gold and Norbert earned silver in this event... |
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| 1998 Nagano Luge at the 1998 Winter Olympics -Men's singles:-Doubles:-Women's singles:Kraushaar led by 0.019 seconds after the first run, but Niedernhuber took the lead of 0.056 seconds after the second run. Kraushaar made up 0.050 seconds in the third run and 0.008 more seconds in the final run to win this event by the equivalent of... |
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| 2002 Salt Lake City Luge at the 2002 Winter Olympics The Luge competition at the 2002 Winter Olympic Games was held at Utah Olympic Park in Park City. Three events were staged, taking place from February 10 to February 14.-Medal table:-Events:-References:***... |
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| 2006 Turin Luge at the 2006 Winter Olympics The Luge competition at the 2006 Winter Olympic Games was held at Cesana Pariol in Cesana, Italy. Three events were staged, taking place from February 11 to February 15. These were the first games where a qualifying system was used to determine the enterants into the games.-Medal... |
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| 2010 Vancouver Luge at the 2010 Winter Olympics The luge competition events of the 2010 Winter Olympics were held between 13 and 17 February 2010 at the Whistler Sliding Centre in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada.- Medal table :- Events :Three luge events were held at the games:... |
Softball
In 1991, fast-pitch softball was selected to debut as a medal event for women-only at the 1996 Summer Olympics1996 Summer Olympics
The 1996 Summer Olympics of Atlanta, officially known as the Games of the XXVI Olympiad and unofficially known as the Centennial Olympics, was an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1996 in Atlanta, Georgia, United States....
The 1996 Olympics also marked a key era in the introduction of technology in softball; the IOC funded a landmark biomechanical study on pitching during the games. The 117th meeting
117th IOC Session
The 117th International Olympic Committee Session was held for the first time in Singapore from 2 July to 9 July 2005. The meeting was particularly significant as two important decisions were made through voting during the session - namely the selection of the hosting city for the 2012 Summer...
of the International Olympic Committee
International Olympic Committee
The International Olympic Committee is an international corporation based in Lausanne, Switzerland, created by Pierre de Coubertin on 23 June 1894 with Demetrios Vikelas as its first president...
, held in Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
in July 2005, voted to drop softball and baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games. Attempts to get softball readded to the Olympic program for the 2016 games
2016 Summer Olympics
The 2016 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXXI Olympiad, are a major international multi-sport event to be celebrated in the tradition of the Olympic Games, as governed by the International Olympic Committee...
failed when the International Olympic Committee executive board instead selected golf and rugby sevens. The United States have won three of the four Olympic tournaments
Softball at the Summer Olympics
Softball was introduced as an Olympic sport for women in the 1996 Summer Olympics. On July 11, 2005, the IOC voted to drop baseball and softball from the Olympic program for 2012, a decision that was reaffirmed on February 9, 2006...
.
Weightlifting
Women's weightlifting made its Olympic debut at the 2000 Games in Sydney, with the following weight classes:- 48 kg
- 53 kg
- 58 kg
- 63 kg
- 69 kg
- 75 kg
- +75 kg
Australia
Fanny DurackFanny Durack
Sarah Frances "Fanny" Durack was an Australian swimmer. From 1910 until 1918 she was the world's greatest female swimmer of all distances from freestyle sprints to the mile marathon.-Life and career:...
was Australia's first female gold medalist. She earned this medal at the 1912 Summer Olympics
1912 Summer Olympics
The 1912 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the V Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Stockholm, Sweden, between 5 May and 27 July 1912. Twenty-eight nations and 2,407 competitors, including 48 women, competed in 102 events in 14 sports...
, where she represented a combined team of Australia and New Zealand, known as the Australiasian team.
Participation costs for Australian athletes, costs like travel to and lodging at, early Olympic games were expected to be paid by the local sport federation sponsoring the athlete. .
In early Australian swimming history as it pertains to the Olympics, there was an attempt to prevent women from participating by male Australian swimming administrators.