Female participation and involvement
In an Olympic Games first, women’s swimming and diving competitions were included on the programme. Women also had a role behind the scenes in the organisation of the event.
At the time, it was a challenge for women to participate in Olympic events, due to a general reluctance by leading sports administrators to allow them to take part in sport. This was highlighted by the fact that Australian swimmers Fanny Durack and Mina Wylie were only given permission to take part in the Games by the New South Wales Swimming Federation on condition that they paid their own way to Sweden. Following a successful fundraising appeal, they both made the trip, with Durack beating her compatriot to gold in the 100m freestyle to become the very first woman to be crowned Olympic swimming champion.
The other women’s swimming event was the 4x100m freestyle relay, won by Great Britain. In the one and only women’s diving event, the 10m platform, Swedish divers won gold and silver.
Of the 2,407 athletes who competed at Stockholm 1912, only 48 were female. At Paris 2024, half of the athlete quota places were allocated to women.
Untypically for the time, over 20 women were employed in administration and correspondence at the General Secretariat for the 1912 Olympic Games. Working behind the scenes, they received barely a mention for their efforts.
The principle of gender equality is now enshrined in the Olympic Charter, which states that one of the roles of the IOC is “to encourage and support the promotion of women in sport at all levels and in all structures”. In recognising the importance of gender equality in effective sports administration, the IOC Executive Board recommended in December 2016 that the members of the Olympic Movement set a minimum target of 30 per cent for women’s representation in their governing bodies by 2020. Gender equality requirements are also enshrined in the Basic Principles of Good Governance for the Olympic Movement, set out in the IOC Code of Ethics.