Teammates:
Notable People, places:
They Set the Mark: United States teammates who competed in the First International Track Meet for Women
Pershing Stadium, Paris, France,
August 20, 1922.
On Sunday, August 20, 1922, history was made in women's track and field at an international meet in Paris, France. Not only were there eighteen world records set, but the team of women from the United States made history by competing at all. Never before had a team of women from the US competed in track and field on the international level.
Pictured are:(standing L to R): Lucile Godbold, Frances Mead, Nancy Voorhees, Assistant Coach Suzanne Becker, Louise Voorhees, Ann Harwick, Esther Green. (kneeling L to R): Maybelle Gilliland, Elizabeth Stine, Florida Batson, Janet Snow, Camille Sabie. Kathryn Agar (Chicago, IL) is not in the
picture but was on board
and Maud Rosenbaum (Chicago, IL) was already in Paris.
The daunting effort to bring a team to Paris was headed by Dr. Harry Eaton Stewart. Thirteen US women competed in eleven events against competition from Great Britain, France, Switzerland, and Czechoslovakia. The United States also demonstrated the hop, step, and jump, the basketball and baseball throws after the Meet. The Meet was organized by Mme. Alice Milliat and the the Federation Sportive Feminine Internationale (FSFI) of France after the International Olympic Committee refused to include women's track and field events in the 1920 Olympic Games. The Meet was commonly referred to in that day as the Women's Olymic Games. The U.S. team placed second to the more experienced team from Great Britain.
This photograph shows 11 of 13 athletes and one assistant coach aboard
the Cunard Liner Aquitania as it sailed from New York to Cherbourg, France.
Meet the team members
Read newspaper accounts of the International Meet
Results from the First International Track Meet for Women
Official List of Contenstants from Program
Watch Miss Ludy talk about the 1922 Olympics
by Jane P. Tuttle
Head User Services Librarian
Edens Library, Columbia College, Columbia, South Carolina, U.S.A.
(803) 786-3337
jtuttle@columbiasc.edu
Please contact me at jtuttle@columbiasc.edu if you have any additional information about the team members.
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© Jane Tuttle. 2002. All Rights Reserved.