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Sports: First Woman To ...

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Women in Sports

 

Women have been making their mark on the playing field since well before the birth of Christ. The Spartans believed that athletic competition was a key part in developing strong mothers, but as time passed, the attitudes about women in sports changed. Athletic and competitive were not words that were to be ascribed to women, so they were often pigeon-holed into "appropriate" roles.

This lens is a tribute to women who set the bar in the world of sports, becoming the first woman to accomplish a particular mark, break a record, win a title. It is part of a series saluting all the ways in which women have broken ground over the years in a variety of fields. Hooray for us!!

"In the field of sports you are more or less accepted for what you do rather than what you are."
- Althea Gibson

Olympics: All About Charlotte Cooper 

Charlotte Reinagle Cooper (September 22, 1870 - October 10, 1966) was a tennis player born in Ealing, Middlesex, England where, as a young lady, she was a member of the Ealing Lawn Tennis Club. She won her first of five Wimbledon championships singles titles in 1895, wearing an ankle-length dress in accordance with proper Victorian attire. She won again the following year and for the third time in 1898.

Nicknamed "Chattie" she was a tall, slender, and elegant woman in appearance but a deceptively powerful athlete who became the first woman to win an Olympic champion title, medals were not awarded until the 1904 Summer Olympics. She won the tennis singles at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris, France where women were allowed to participate for the first time. She followed this up with a second gold medal, winning the mixed doubles with partner, Reginald Doherty.

Still unmarried at age 30 she was what in her day was referred to as a "spinster" but on January 12, 1901 she married a tennis compatriot, Alfred Sterry. That year she captured the Wimbledon championship for the fourth time. After time off for family, she returned to active tennis, winning her fifth Wimbledon singles title in 1908 at the age of 37 years 282 days, an age record that still stands. In 1912, at age 41 she was still one of the best players in the game and that year made it to the Wimbledon finals.

Mrs. Cooper Sterry remained active in competitive tennis and continued to play in championship events well into her 50s. Her husband became President of the Lawn Tennis Association and their daughter, Gwen, played on Britain's Wightman Cup tennis team.

In 1966, Charlotte Cooper Sterry died at the age of 96, in Helensburgh, Scotland.

Olympics: First Woman To ... 



  • The first female Olympic champion was a Spartan princess called Kynisca (or Kyniska, depending on whom you talk to), in 392 BC (or 396 BC, depending on whom you talk to). She was also the first woman to become a champion horse trainer when her horses and chariot competed and won in the Ancient Olympic Games. She was barred from collecting her prize in person.

  • When the modern Olympics started up in 1896, women were not allowed to compete, but there was an unofficial competitor in the marathon, a Greek woman who became known as Melpomene (her real name was Stamati Revithi). She wasn't allowed to compete with the men, but ran by herself the following day. They refused her entry to the stadium for the final lap, so she completed her race by running around the stadium. After the run was over, the officials couldn't remember her name, so they called her Melpomene after the Greek muse of Tragedy.

  • Women officially competed for the first time in the 1900 competition. The group of first women in the Olympics were: Helen de Pourtales, Switzerland (Yachting), Elvira Guerra, France (Equestrianism), Mme Ohnier and Madame Depres, France (Croquet), Charlotte Cooper, Great Britain (Tennis), Margaret Abbott, USA (Golf), Madame Maison, France (Ballooning).

  • The first women to win gold medals were: Helen de Pourtales (mixed event) and Charlotte Cooper (individual women's event). The first team medal was won by Great Britain in 1912 in the 4 x 100 meter freestyle relay.

Olympics: Videos 

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2008 Olympic Women

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Fu Mingxia: Sydney2000 Olympic...

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Gail Devers recaps the Olympic...

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Shelly-Ann Fraser Olympic wom...

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2008 U.S. olympic women's gymn...

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2004 U.S. Olympic Women [04 E!...

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Horse Racing: All About Julie Krone 

Julie Krone (born Julieann Louise Krone, July 24, 1963, Benton Harbor, Michigan), is a retired American jockey. In 1993, she became the first female jockey to win a Triple Crown race when she captured the Belmont Stakes aboard Colonial Affair. In 2000 she became the first woman inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.

Julie Krone appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated for the issue of May 22, 1989. She is one of only eight jockeys so recognized (the others are Willie Shoemaker, Bill Hartack, Eddie Arcaro, John Longden, John Sellers, Robyn Smith and Steve Cauthen). Krone also was the only women to win riding championships at Belmont Park, Gulfstream Park, Monmouth Park, the Meadowlands and Atlantic City Race Course.

Julie Krone retired for the first time on April 18, 1999, with a three-winner day at Lone Star Park, near Dallas. She embarked upon a broadcasting career in horse racing, but then came out of retirement at Santa Anita Park in November of 2002. After a good start to the 2003 season, she fractured two bones in her lower back and spent the next four months recovering. She returned to lead the 2003 Del Mar jockeys in purse earnings, then went on to become the first woman jockey to win a Breeders' Cup race when she rode Halfbridled to victory in the 2003 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies at Santa Anita. On December 12, 2003, just weeks after her Breeders' Cup win, she broke several ribs and suffered severe muscle tears in a fall at Hollywood Park Racetrack. Though not fully recovered from her injuries, Krone attempted to come back on February 14, 2004, at Santa Anita Park, but failed to win in three races. She did not ride again; on July 8 of that year, she made a statement in which she did not officially retire, but strongly hinted that she would never race again.

Krone is married to Jay Hovdey, an executive columnist for the Daily Racing Form. She gave birth to their daughter Lorelei Judith Krone on September 27, 2005. (Hovdey also has a son, Ed, from his previous marriage.) Some other relatives which Krone stays close with are her brother Donnie Krone, father Don Krone, and nephew Danny Kauffman.. Her mother, Judi Krone, was an accomplished equestrian who died a few days before Christmas of 1999.

Apart from motherhood, Krone's second retirement from riding has been occupied as a racing broadcaster, a motivational speaker, and an instructor in the discipline of natural horsemanship. Krone announced she would make a brief "comeback" of sorts in a sanctioned betting race at Santa Anita Park on Oct. 18, 2008, while competing against seven other retired Hall of Fame jockeys: Gary Stevens, Pat Day, Chris McCarron, Jerry Bailey, Angel Cordero, Jacinto Vasquez and Sandy Hawley.

Horse Racing: First Woman To ... 



  • 1804 - The first woman jockey was Alicia Meynell of England. She first competed in a four-mile race in York, England.

  • 1970 - Diane Crump becomes the first female jockey to ride in the Kentucky Derby. Amidst a media frenzy and surrounded by a police escort, the 20-year-old Crump arrived at Hialeah Racetrack in February 1969 to make history as the first female jockey in a pari-mutuel race. After a winning year, she broke the same barrier by riding in the Kentucky Derby the following May. Not until an injury forced her to hang up her tack in 1990 did Crump step down from the saddle.

  • 1993 - Julie Krone becomes the first woman jockey to win a Triple Crown race, riding Colonial Affair in the Belmont Stakes.

Horse Racing: Videos 

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Flashpoint: Women in Horse Rac...

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Katie Liukkonen horse racing

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Indian Horse Racing-Woman on t...

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Horse Racing fun in Whitsunday...

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Try and Try you will succeed -...

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Sexy Latin Woman Free Blow Job...

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"You'll be dedicated and that's what you should want to be in anything in life - whether it's sports or academics or your relationship. It all stems from finding that fun, that thrill, that excitement."
- Brandi Chastain

Auto Racing: All About Danica Patrick 

Danica Sue Patrick (born March 25, 1982 in Beloit, Wisconsin) is an American auto racing driver competing in the IndyCar Series. She was raised in Roscoe, Illinois. Patrick was named the Rookie of the Year for both the 2005 Indianapolis 500 and the 2005 IndyCar Series season. In May 2006, she published her autobiography, Danica: Crossing the Line. With her win in the 2008 Indy Japan 300, Patrick became the first woman to win an Indy car race.

Auto Racing: First Woman To ... 


  • 1903 - A secretary, Dorothy Levitt, shocks the English people when she becomes first woman to participate in public motor car race.

  • 1977 - Janet Guthrie earned a starting spot in the top-notch auto race at Indianapolis in 1977 and the Daytona 500 the same year. Her ninth-place finish in the Indianapolis 500 (1978), with a team she formed and managed herself, was the best by a woman until 2005.

  • 1980 - Desire Wilson became the first woman to win a Formula One race

  • 1992 - Lyn St. James is the first woman to race on the IndyCar circuit, taking Rookie of the Year honors.

  • 2008 - Danica Patrick becomes the first woman to win an IndyCar race when she took the Japan 300 in Motegi, Japan.
  • Auto Racing: Videos 

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    World's Fastest Women Jet Car ...

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    Flashing Woman Causes Accident...

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    DecalFX Presents: Fast Cars & ...

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    Octane TV - Porsche 996TT

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    Episode 9: Brooke Banx Bikini ...

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    2008 Detroit Auto Show: Mazda ...

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    Baseball: All About Effa Manley 

    Effa Manley (March 27, 1897 - April 16, 1981) was an American sports executive and the first woman inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. She co-owned the Newark Eagles baseball franchise in the Negro Leagues with her husband Abe from 1935 to 1946, and was sole owner through 1948 after his death. Throughout that time she served as the team's business manager, and also fulfilled many of her husband's duties as treasurer of the Negro National League.

    Manley was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her biological parents were white, but she was raised by her Black stepfather and white mother, leading most to assume her stepfather was her biological father and therefore to classify her as Black. She married Abe Manley in 1935 after meeting him...

    Baseball: First Woman To ... 


  • 1904 - Amanda Clement, just 16 years old, becomes the first female umpire to officiate a men's baseball game in Iowa for pay.

  • 1911 - Helene Britton becomes the first woman owner of a major league team, the St. Louis Cardinals, from 1911 to 1917.

  • 1946 - Edith Houghton becomes the first woman hired as a first major-league baseball scout.

  • 1995 - Julie Croteau becomes the first female assistant coach in men's collegiate division I baseball at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.

  • 2006 - Effa Manley, co-owner of the Negro Leagues team Newark Eagles, becomes the first woman elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
  • Baseball: Videos 

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    Baseball kills woman (Simon Bi...

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    Women's Baseball Jonno e-mail

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    CRAZY WOMEN HITS CAR WITH BASE...

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    If You Let Women Into Baseball...

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    Women Only Boot Camp Baseball

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    Commissioner Stacy Fuson Revie...

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    "Champions keep playing until they get it right."
    - Billie Jean King

    Sports: All About Madge Syers 

    Florence Madeleine Syers (née Cave) (1881 - September 9 1917), best known as Madge Syers, was a British figure skater. She was the first woman to compete in the sport, and became the first female World and Olympic champion. She won the Olympic gold medal at age 27; to date, she is the oldest Olympics ladies' figure skating gold medalist. She also won the Olympics bronze medal for pairs with her husband and coach, Edgar Syers.

    Other Sports: First Woman To ... 


  • Swimming - In 1926, American Gertrude Ederle becomes the first woman to swim across the English Channel.

  • Iditirod - In 1985, Libby Riddles became the first woman to win the Iditirod Sled Dog Race in Alaska. Susan Butcher followed her by winning the next three years straight.

  • Biking - In 1894, a young mother of three turned Victorian propriety on its ear by embarking on a 15-month journey around the world on a 42-pound bicycle, becoming the first woman to do so. As part of her PR campaign, she styled herself as Annie Londonderry, a daring globetrotter and adventurer.

  • Chess - In January 1991, Susan Polgar broke the gender barrier by becoming the first woman to earn the men's Grandmaster title by achieving three GM norms and rating over 2500. (Nona Gaprindashvili and Maia Chiburdanidze had earlier been awarded the title by virtue of being Women's World Champions).

  • Running - In 1967, Kathrine Switzer was the first woman to officially enter and run the Boston Marathon. (Officially is a key word because Bobbie Gibb also ran in that race, finishing about an hour ahead of Switzer, but not as an official entrant.) Her best finish ever was second in 1975.

  • Football - In 1995, Kathy Klobe became the first female to suit up for NCAA Division 1A game as a kicker for Louisville. In 2003, Katie Hnida became the first woman to score in a NCAA Division I football game as a placekicker for the University of New Mexico, scoring with two extra points in the fourth quarter of a victory against Texas State University.

  • Skating - In 1906, skater Madge Syers becomes the first woman world figure skating champion, repeating in 1907.

  • Fishing - In 1406, Dame Juliana Berners of Great Britain writes the first known essay on sports fishing. She described how to make a rod and flies, when to fish, and the many kinds of fishing in her essay, "Treatise of Fishing with an Angle."

  • Basketball - In 1990, Bernadette Locke becomes the first female Division I coach of a men's basketball team when she joins the University of Kentucky as an assistant coach to Rick Pitino.

  • Hockey - In 1993, Manon Rheaume becomes the first woman to play goalie in a professional hockey game for the Atlanta Knights of the International Hockey League in Salt Lake City.

  • Bullfighting - In 1996, Christina Sanchez became Europe's first qualified woman bullfighter at the age of 24.
  • Let's Hear it for the Girls 

    QuantumTraveler

    Great job with this lens. It should inspire women to compete and be the best they can be. Thanks.

    Posted October 10, 2008

    Margo_Arrowsmith

    Susan, I love this lens. It is really great. (Although I have to confess to a personal doubt that car racers are athletes) But the history is wonderful. I would like to invite you to my new group. Honoring Women in Sports

    5*

    Posted October 10, 2008

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    SusanVillasLewis

    About SusanVillasLewis


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