At which Summer Olympics did women first compete in Olympic athletics?

Women first competed in Olympic athletics at the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam.

The Amsterdam Games introduced a limited women’s athletics programme containing five events: the 100 metres, 800 metres, 4×100-metre relay, high jump and discus throw. Halina Konopacka of Poland became the first woman to win an Olympic athletics title, taking gold in the discus.

The change followed years of campaigning and pressure from women’s sporting organisations, including Alice Milliat’s Fédération Sportive Féminine Internationale and its successful Women’s World Games. Olympic officials still restricted the programme, reflecting widespread opposition to women competing in strenuous sports.

A common mix-up concerns the 800 metres. After the 1928 race, exaggerated reports claimed competitors had collapsed from exhaustion, and the event was removed from the women’s Olympic programme until 1960. Women’s athletics therefore debuted in 1928, but its expansion was slow and contested.