History
Fast Facts
Host City: Paris, FranceOpening date: May 14, 1900
Closing date: October 28, 1900
Nations: 24
Athletes: 1,225 (1,206 male, 19 female)
87 events in 20 sports
Coubertin was resented by many chauvinistic French sports officials because of his international outlook and because of what was seen as his desire to import English ideas about education into the country. As a result, the 1900 Games almost didn't happen and, when they did happen, they were very poorly organized.
Progress began only after Coubertin resigned from the Union of French Athletic Associations (USFSA) in 1899. The USFSA then decided to hold the Olympics in conjunction with the Universal Paris Exhibition of 1900. That led to some absurdities, such as the fencing competition being held as a sort of sideshow in the exhibition's cutlery area.
Because there were other sporting events held in connection with the exposition, there was a great deal of confusion about which were Olympic contests and which weren't. Some athletes didn't even know they were taking part in the Olympics, while others thought they were in the Olympics when they really weren't.
As an example of the confusion, Margaret Abbott of the United States won a nine-hole golf tournament, which she entered as a lark. She is now on record as the first woman ever to win a gold medal but she died in 1955 without knowing it.
Another problem was that the French staged some events on Sunday, when a number of American athletes refused to compete because they believed in honoring the Lord's Day, including both entrants in the 1500-meter run and the country's Prix des Nations equestrian team.
Myer Prinstein, the world record holder in the long jump, entered into a gentleman's agreement with other U. S. athletes not to compete on Sunday even though he was Jewish and it was not his Sabbath. However, Alvin Kraenzlein of the U. S. entered the long jump finals on Sunday, July 14, and won the gold medal. That led to a fist fight between the two athletes on Monday, when Prinstein discovered the deception.
Kraenzlein emerged as the game's big winner, taking four gold medals. In addition to his high jump victory, he won the 60-meter dash, the 110-meter hurdles, and the 200-meter hurdles. Ray Ewry of the U. S. won three now-obsolete events, the standing high jump, standing broad jump, and standing triple jump.
Irving Baxter won an unusual double, in the high jump and pole vault, and Walter Tewksbury won gold medals in the 200-meter dash and the 400-meter hurdles. All told, the United States won 17 of the 23 track and field events.
Despite all the confusion, 1,225 athletes competed in 1900, representing 24 countries, according to the official IOC numbers, which have been revised several times.
Swimming, wrestling, and weightlifting were dropped from the program and gymnastics was reduced to a single event, the all-around competition. Cricket, croquet, equestrian events, golf, rowing, rugby, soccer, tennis, and water polo were added, though several of those sports disappeared from the Olympics almost immediately.
Women competed for the first time, in croquet and tennis as well as golf. Charlotte Cooper of Great Britain became the first female Olympic champion, winning the women's singles tennis title.
