Abstract

After the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) had repeatedly opposed including women's athletics into their official program in the early 1920s, the Féderation Sportive Féminine Internationale (FSFI) was founded in 1921. One year later it organised a women's Olympiad in Paris with great success. As a result the IOC accepted five women's athletic events in the program of the Olympic Games 1928 in Amsterdam. The FSFI had to rename their own event and call it "Women's World Games".
However, the fact that a few women collapsed on the grass after crossing the finishing line after the 800 m race in Amsterdam in 1928 – the race was won by the German "Lina" Radke with a new world record – was used as an argument against women's athletics and women's sport in general. Officials, journalists and doctors were not convinced of the women's mental and physical ability to cope with the stresses of competitive sports. In a vote the IOC only just prevented the abandoning of women's athletics, however the 800 m race was taken out of the program. 30 years later the middle distance race was included in the Olympic program, again after intensive discussions in advance. Verf. Referat