When the Olympics were reborn in 1896, after 15 centuries, none of the 176 participants were women.
The 1900 Paris Games included the first female competitors. There were croquet players and yachtswomen, even athletes in ballooning.
Three women won Olympic titles, including one American: 24-year-old golfer Margaret Abbott.
Abbott’s story was told often in 2016, when golf returned to the Olympic program after a 112-year hiatus. She was technically the reigning champion, as only men’s golf events were held at the 1904 St. Louis Games.
Back in 1900, Abbott, who was born in Calcutta (now Kolkata), India, and raised in Chicago, was in Paris for art.