"Women's sport has its place in social life in the same way as men's sport. It should even come to the forefront of the government's concerns; I am not exaggerating."
By uttering these words in 1917, Alice Milliat was clearly ahead of her time.
It stood out at a time that was clearly hostile to women in the world of sport.
“She was truly a pioneer for France, but also internationally. She was the one who launched the practice of sport for women,” summarizes historian Florence Carpentier, lecturer at the University of Rouen.
Between 1915 and 1936, Alice Milliat was the first sports leader to encourage physical activity for women in France and around the world.
A provincial who became an international leader
Born in Nantes in 1884 to grocer parents, this provincial woman of modest means was not destined for such a career.
Her life changed at the age of 20 when she married a young salesman from Nantes in London.
On the other side of the Channel, she discovered women's sporting activities, but also the feminist movement with the birth of suffragettes who demanded the right to vote.
Widowed at just 24 years old, she returned to France and settled in Paris to work.
It was in the capital that she really began to play sports, particularly rowing.
Very quickly, she also became involved in the Fémina Sport club, one of the three Parisian sports clubs for women, of which she became president in 1915. "She was a widow. She had no children. She was therefore completely free", underlines Florence Carpentier who devoted a study to her in the Revue d'histoire.
Alice Milliat rowing in 1913. © Wikimedia
Two years later, the Federation of Women's Sports Societies of France was created.
By becoming president in 1919, Alice Milliat became the only woman in the world at the head of a national sports federation.
A real revolution, according to the historian: "She feminized the director office by firing all the men and replacing them with women. She did not want to leave women's sport in the sole hands of men."
The Women's Olympic Games
At the same time, she asked the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to include women's athletics events in the Olympic Games, but without success.
Alice Milliat must face the medical, social and moral arguments presented to her by detractors of sports for women.
“There is still a biological differentiation of the sexes at the time. We think that women are physically weaker and that they are not able to make physical effort. This could also be more dangerous for procreation” , describes Florence Carpentier.
“We also think that women should not make a spectacle of themselves in skimpy outfits.”
In 1935, the President of the IOC, Frenchman Pierre de Coubertin, summed up this state of mind: “The true Olympic hero is, in my eyes, the individual adult male […]. At the Olympics, [the role of women] should above all [be], as in ancient tournaments, to crown the winners".
During several editions of the Olympic Games, sportswomen are therefore limited to certain events such as swimming, archery, figure skating or even tennis.
Remarks on the “so-called weaker sex” never discouraged Alice Milliat in her fight.
“Despite our pressing and repeated requests, the Olympic Committee has always refused to add women's athletics to the Olympic Games. […] We are going to prove that we are capable of leading our own destinies,” she announced.
She organized a first international women's meeting in Monaco in March 1921. Having become president of the International Women's Sports Federation, she launched the first Women's World Games in Paris on August 20, 1922. These women's Olympic Games were a great success, bringing together 20,000 spectators and athletes from five different countries competing in 11 events.
“She managed to bring the United States, which was a real challenge. It was a real victory for her,” underlines Florence Carpentier.
Four years later, Sweden hosted the second edition of these women's Olympic Games.
In 1928, after the resignation of Pierre Coubertin, Alice Milliat obtained a victory with the participation of women in the athletics events at the Amsterdam Olympics.
The Nantes woman is also one of the referees, the first and only woman judge among the men.
In 1930, she organized the women's world athletics championships which lasted until 1936. But little by little, the Women's Sports Federation that she directed died out for lack of money.
“There was still resistance from male leaders at the head of the various international athletics federations and the IOC. They ensured that budgets were cut for women. All this, in a context of economic crisis at the beginning of the 1930s", analyzes the historian specializing in the world of sport.
Alicia Milliat, the only woman among the men on the jury for the athletics events at the Amsterdam Olympic Games in 1928. © Alice Milliat Foundation
The return to grace of Alice Milliat
Exhausted by years of activism, Alice Milliat left the sporting scene in 1935. It was in total anonymity that she died in Paris in 1957. One hundred years after her feats of arms, the story of this pioneer emerges from the shadows.
Several cities, including his native Nantes, have given his name to sports facilities.
In March 2021, at the Maison du sport français, which houses the headquarters of the National Olympic Committee, his statue was inaugurated opposite that of Pierre Coubertin.
Like a final challenge.
More recently, his name was given to the esplanade in front of the brand new Adidas Arena located at Porte de la Chapelle in Paris.
And here is the work created in tribute to #AliceMilliat by the students of @ensaama.
Commissioned by the #CNOSF, it will sit in the entrance hall of the Maison du sport français.
Learn more about the press kit: https://t.co/HcHtZOI9JX pic.twitter.com/x3K88QSuXk
— Equipe France (@EquipeFRA) March 8, 2021
An Alice Milliat Foundation was also created in 2015. It aims to promote the practice of women's sport, but also to raise awareness of the great forgotten woman of French sport.
“She was really made invisible. She is an athlete who fought and who was a voice for women,” said Aurélie Bresson, president of the Foundation.
“She had a progressive, humanist vision, but too far ahead of her time.”
A hundred years later, Alice Milliat would have reason to rejoice.
The Paris Olympic Games will be the first equal Olympics in history with an equal number of female and male athletes.
However, there is still a long way to go.
“There are subjects which no longer have any place at all because women can practice all the sports they want. But there are still many things to change,” notes Aurélie Bresson;
“There are in particular the questions of sexist and sexual violence. There are also always problems in the representation of women in sport. There is also the place of women managers in the French system. Where are they? We must networks of women leaders".
In any case, the president of the Foundation feels part of a long chain.
Heir to the work of her illustrious elder, she is delighted to see that Alice Milliat continues to be emulated by many: "Athletes are speaking out more and more, whereas before we mainly focused on their performance. Today "Today, they are mobilizing, they are getting involved and they are denouncing. This is the real revolution of recent years."
It is a great honor for the Foundation to see the square of an Olympic site take the name of Alice Milliat.
Great things to come in this space!
https://t.co/NLBjGbjVeY
— Alice Milliat Foundation (@FAMilliat) February 11, 2024
Illustration On the way to Paris © Graphic Studio
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