Transcript OLYMPIC GAMES : WOMEN Women were first allowed to compete at the 1900 Summer Olympics, but at the 1992 Summer Olympics thirty-five.

OLYMPIC GAMES : WOMEN
Women were first allowed to compete at the 1900 Summer
Olympics, but at the 1992 Summer Olympics thirty-five countries
were still fielding all-male delegations.. In 2000 and 2008,Nahrain
and United Arab Emirates sent women competitors. By 2010,only
three countries had never sent female athletes to the
Games:Brunei,Saudi Arabia and Qatar. In 2010,the International
Olympic Committee announced it would ‘’press’’ these countries to
enable and facilitate the participation of women. At the 2012
Olympic Games in London,every country competing included
female athletes. AT the 2012 Olympics,runner Maryam Yusuf Jamal
(Bahrain) became the first Gulf female athlete to win a medal. With
the addition of women’s boxing to the program in the 2012
Summer Olympics, female athletes were able to compete in all the
same sports as men.
THE WOMEN: WERE THE
ANCIENT OLYMPICS JUST
FOR MEN?
Bronze Statuette of a girl runner,
probably from Sparta, ca. 500 BC,
British Museum.
ALONG WITH ATHLETIC CONTEST HELD AT ANCIENT
OLIMPYA THERE WAS A SEPARATE FESTIVAL IN HONOUR
OF HERA. THIS FESTIVAL INCLUTED FOOT RACES FOR
UNMARRIED GIRL. A 2ND
CENTURY AD GREEK
TRAVELLER,TELLS US. HE MENTIONS IT IN A DESCRIPTION
OF THE ''TEMPLE OR HERA'' IN THE SANCTUARY OF ZEUS,
AND SAYS THAT IT WAS ORGANIZED AND SUPERVISIED
BY A COMMITTEE OF 16 WOMEN FROM THE CITIES OF
ELIS. THE FESTIVAL TOOK PLACE EVERY FOUR YEARS .THE
GIRL WORE THEIR HAIR FREE DOWN THEIR BACK AND A
TUNIC HANGING ALMOST AS LOW AS THE KNEES
COVERING ONLY THE LEFT SHOULDER AND BREAST. UN
MARRIED GIRLS HAD A NUMBER OF ADVANTAGES AT
OLYMPIA. THEY NOT ONLY HAD THEIR OWN ATHLETIC
CONTESTS OH HERA FESTIVAL IN WHICH TO
PARTICIPATE, BUT THEY WERE ALSO ALLOWED TO
WATCH THE MEN'S AND BOYS' CONTESTS OF THE
FESTIVAL OF ZEUS. MARRIED WOMEN, ON THE
OTHER HAND, WERE NOT ALLOWED TO PARTICIPATE
IN THE ATHLETIC CONTESTS OF THE HERA FESTIVAL,
AND WERE BARRED ON PENALTY OF DEATH FROM
THE SANCTUARY OF ZEUS ON THE DAYS OF THE
ATHLETIC COMPETITION FOR BOYS AND MEN. WE
DON'T KNOW WHETHER OR NOT THE WOMEN
ALLOWED THE MEN TO WATCH THE GIRLS' CONTESTS!