Sports Archives - Page 12 of 30

Camille du Gast

Daredevil sportswoman, animal rights activist and feminist in Belle Epoque Paris

Winnie Drinkwater

Scotswoman Winnie Drinkwater was a very well-known pilot and engineer in the 1930s.

Lettice Curtis

Pioneering British commercial pilot and aeronautical engineer.

Sabiha Gürayman

Turkey’s first woman engineer

A biracial woman and a bicyclist, Kittie Knox (1874-1900) braved barely-paved Boston streets as well as discrimination by the all-white (and predominantly male) bicycle clubs. As a competitive cyclist, she designed a bicycle-riding outfit for women that included knickerbockers pants.

Helen Johns

Helen Johns won a gold medal in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay at the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics at just 17.

Eleanor Prentiss Creesy

With her husband, she sailed around the world. In 1851, they decided to race several other ships sailing from New York to San Francisco aboard the clipper Flying Cloud. They broke the previous record by eleven days.

Annie Londonderry

Annie Londonderry (ca1870-1947) is known mainly for her well publicized bicycle trip in 1894-95, purportedly around the world.

Rose Pitonof

At 15, she won the Boston Light Swim, setting a new record. The seven men she was competing with all dropped out before the finish line. She later appeared in a vaudeville act during which she gave swimming and diving lessons in a portable tank.

Senda Berenson

Considered the mother of women’s basketball, Senda Berenson adapted the rules for women and in 1984, posthumously, became the first woman inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame.