The 1922 Women's Olympiad (Jeux Athlétiques Internationaux Féminins and Jeux Olympiques Féminins) was the second[1] international women's sports event, a 7-day multi-sport event organised by Alice Milliat and held on 15[2][3]– April 23[4][5][6][7] 1922[8][9] in Monte Carlo[10] at the International Sporting Club of Monaco. The tournament was formally called "Deuxiéme Meeting International d'Éducation Physique Féminine". It was also the second of three Women's Olympiads or "Monte Carlo Games"[11] held annually at the venue in Monaco,[12][13] and the second[14] forerunner of the quadrennial Women's World Games, organised in 1922–34 by the International Women's Sports Federation founded by Milliat in late 1921.
The games were organized[7] as the previous 1921 Women's Olympiad by Fédération des Sociétés Féminines Sportives de France (FSFSF)[10] under Alice Milliat[8] and Camille Blanc,[2] director[13] of the "International Sporting Club de Monaco" as a response to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) decision not to include women's events in the 1924 Olympic Games.
The games were attended by 300[6][7][9] participants[8][14][1] from 7 nations:[13][2] Belgium, Czechoslovakia, France, Italy, Norway (mentioned by several sources, however no Norwegian athletes appear in the result lists[4][3]), Switzerland and the United Kingdom. The tournament was a huge promotion for women's sports.
The athletes competed[4][3][5] in 11[9] events:[12] running (60 metres, 250 metres, 800 metres, 4 x 75 metres relay, 4 x 175 metres relay and hurdling 65 metres), high jump, long jump, javelin, shot put and Athletics pentathlon. The tournament also held exhibition events[2] in basketball, cycling, gymnastics and rhythmic gymnastics.
The pentathlon event was the first[15] recorded Women's pentathlon, the 5 events were 60 metres, 300 metres, high jump, javelin, and shot put (the throwing events were two-hand[15]). Regular women's pentathlon was introduced at the 1934 Women's World Games in London
During the games there were also events held in water sports[4][3] (among the first for women outside the Olympic Games) with swimming events,[12] where teams from the Netherlands and Sweden also participated. Events were[13][2] swimming 100 metres, 200 metres and 400 metres, relays and water polo.
The tournament was held partly at the "Stade Nautique du Port" at the Monaco harbour[12] and partly at the "Tir aux Pigeons"[14][13] in the gardens Les jardins du Casino of the Monte Carlo Casino.[8][11][1]
Almost all gold medals[9][4] went to athletes[13][3] from France and the United Kingdom, medalists[14][6] for each event:[13][2][5]
Daisy Wright and Hilda Hatt also competed in hurdles, previous winner in hurdles Germaine Delapierre participated in the high jump event.
The basketboll tournament was won by Team Haguenau after a win in the final against Team England with 9–8.
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The swimming events were held April 20–23, participants from Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy, Netherlands, Sweden and United Kingdom competed in 10[4][3] events. During the competitions[13][2] Sweden secured 4 victories, the Netherlands 3 victories, France won 2 events and United Kingdom won 1 event.
The water polo tournament was won by Team Netherlands after a win in the final against Team England with 6–0.
A special commemorative medal was issued for the participants.[16]
Later in 1922 the first Women's World Games were held in Paris, the 1923 Women's Olympiad were held at the same Monaco venue.[11][10]
