On Thursday, Simone Manuel became the first African-American woman to win a gold medal in an individual swimming event. This moment, intersectionally iconic, for both the black and female communities, surprised me, not because of shock that this could occur, but because I had not realized this hadn’t happened already. In this way, this momentous occasion recalls how far we have come, and also how far we have to go. Manuel’s win cannot be viewed in isolation. It is remarkable because of a long and incredibly frustrating history of racial disparity in swimming, stretching back for generations. (You can read more about the history of this here and here - it's a huge deal.)
Many others before her have overcome great odds to break down barriers in the Olympic games. In honor of Simone Manuel’s groundbreaking achievement, I’ve put together a brief list of a few other cool U.S. women who have graced the Olympics with their athleticism and resilience.
Margaret Abbott, the first female winner of an Olympic gold medal.
In the early days of the modern Olympics, events were less clearly coordinated. Competing in a series of golf competitions in the 1900 Paris games, Margaret Abbott did not realize the events were a part of the Olympic games, and actually died not knowing the history she had made. She did not receive an actual gold medal for her first place finish, but instead was given a porcelain bowl, in the 1900 Paris Olympics policy to give each winner a valuable object for their prize. (She was, incidentally, a pretty interesting person aside from her history-making golf skill. In the first place, she had traveled from Chicago to Paris in order to study art, and not casually, but from the likes of masters Edgar Degas and Auguste Rodin.)
Alice Coachman, the first African-American woman to win a gold medal, and full-stop, the first woman of color from any country to win an Olympic gold medal.
Coachman grew up in segregated Albany, Georgia. At this time in the Southern U.S., athletic facilities did not allow black athletes to use their practice fields or materials, or even participate in organized sports. Her profile in “Olympics 30: Greatest Olympic Stories” describes how she trained by sprinting down dirt roads, and practiced her jumps using homemade equipment like “tied rags, ropes and sticks for hours at a time to improve her jumping.” She was even the only American woman to win a gold in 1948, and it is widely thought that if there had been Olympic games in 1940 and 1944, she would have been dominant in these games as well (possibly making history even earlier).
Kayla Harrison, the first American (out of men and women) to win a gold medal in judo.
Last Thursday, she defended this title, winning the gold again to become a two-time judo Olympic champion. A Washington Post article published Thursday detailed her struggle with sexual abuse at the hands of her former coach, Daniel Doyle, for three years starting when she was 13. Doyle is now serving a 10 year jail sentence, and Harrison is coached by the Pedros, whom she credits with saving her life and helping her to become, as she self-describes, “the toughest athlete in [her] weight class and one of the mentally toughest competitors in judo.” Now 26, Harrison has won two Olympic gold medals. When interviewed after her most recent gold, she said she was ready to begin building her “legacy off the mat and try and change the world.”
There are many more incredible women who have left their mark on Olympic history, and many more to come. In breaking down these barriers, whether they be racial, gendered, or psychological, these women have opened the doors for those after them, and helped to create a space in which the Olympic games can continue to strive for the inclusiveness and unity which they were founded to foster.
