Rebel Girls Champions: 25 Tales of Unstoppable Athletes

Rebel Girls Champions: 25 Tales of Unstoppable Athletes — page 5
6 ALICE MILLIAT ROWER Once upon a time women weren't allowed to compete in the Olympic Games The president of the International Olympic Committee IOC declared that sports were too violent and inappropriate for ladies That's ridiculous thought Alice She knew that women were strong and fast and competitive too Born in France in 1884 Alice studied to become a teacher and translator But what really made her feel alive was playing sports Swimming hockey and rowing helped her body grow stronger and her mind grow sharper And she knew she wasn't the only one Sports were good for everybody In 1919 Alice asked the IOC to include women in the track and field program They said no So she started her own organization the Fédération Sportive Féminine Internationale FSFI Three years later they organized a big one day sporting event just for women Around 20,000 fans came to watch 11 events in a stadium near Paris Athletes from Czechoslovakia France Switzerland the United Kingdom and the United States ran jumped and threw shot puts and javelins By the end of the day 18 world records were broken Four years later Alice organized the games again calling it the Women's World Games They had a special opening ceremony with 3,000 carrier pigeons released into the sky The IOC wanted Alice to stop the games immediately This time it was her turn to say no She would not back down until women were allowed in the Olympics It took more than 70 years for Alice's dream to come true By that time Alice the FSFI and the Women's World Games were long gone But today every woman who steps into an Olympic arena has Alice to thank MAY 5 1884 oe MAY 19 1957 FRANCE