Who became the first female individual Olympic champion at the 1900 Summer Olympics?

Charlotte Cooper became the first female individual Olympic champion at the 1900 Summer Olympics.

The British tennis player won the women’s singles title at Paris 1900, defeating France’s Hélène Prévost in the final. Because the 1900 Games introduced women’s events, Cooper became the first woman to win an Olympic individual title. She also won the mixed doubles event with Reginald Doherty.

Cooper was already an established Wimbledon champion before Paris. She won her first Wimbledon women’s singles title in 1895 and eventually captured five singles championships there. She competed while deaf, having lost her hearing as a young adult, but continued to play at the highest level.

The 1900 Olympics formed part of the Paris Exposition and unfolded over several months, unlike the compact modern Games. Women competed in selected sports, including tennis, golf, sailing and croquet. The 1900 women’s singles final is therefore distinct from later Olympic tennis tournaments with larger fields and standardized formats.