Women in the Olympics

No women competed, as Pierre de Coubertin, creator of the modern Games, felt that their inclusion would be "impractical, uninteresting, unaesthetic, and incorrect."

They participated in two events: lawn tennis and golf, neither of which remains an Olympic sport.

Although no women from the US compete, as American female athletes could not compete in events without long skirts.

But after a rumor that several collapse (completely untrue--not one woman collapsed) it was decided that this event was too grueling for the delicate female constitution and anything over 200 meters was discontinued for 32 years until the 1960 games.

Alice Coachman was her name, and she won the only gold medal for the US Track and Field team and set an Olympic record in High Jump

Softball

Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Brunei all allow women to compete for the first time

Event equality--all events are open to both sexes

In the only known case of a man posing as a women, Hermann Ratjen was forced by the Nazi regime to compete as Dora Ratjen. Ratjen still only finishes fourth in the high jump. Ratjen admits to this twenty years later, spawning the introduction of gender testing.