In 1900, a 22-year-old woman by the name of Margaret Abbott was an aspiring golfer. Brought to the United States by her mother after being born in India, the young lady arrived just in time to take up the sport that had been gaining wild popularity during the 1890s. When the Paris Olympics came around in 1900, the young lady decided that the time had come to show her golfing prowess to the world. What she didn’t know, however, is that she would soon be making Olympic Games history.
At the first modern Olympic Games in 1896, women were prohibited from participating. This changed four years later when women participated in a variety of events, ranging from tennis and golf to equestrianism and croquet. At the same time, a golf tournament in the French town of Compiègne was getting underway. The tournament consisted of five local French women and five American ladies who were studying or vacationing in France, among them being Abbott.
At the end of the nine-hole tournament, the 22-year-old carded a score of 47, just two shots clear of the second-placed Polly Whittier hailing from Boston. Upon winning the tournament, Abbott received an old Saxon porcelain bowl mounted in chiseled gold. While a fine award, this was no gold medal.
It would take another four years for medals to be awarded at the Olympic Games. Without the inclusion of medals and a winner’s podium, there was no indication that the golf tournament that Abbott won was actually part of the Olympic Games schedule. Also, none of the participants were made aware that this was the case.
For the remainder of her life, Abbott never knew that she participated in the Olympics. It was only in 1973 that the truth was uncovered. When visiting the U.S. Olympic Committee headquarters in New York City, Paula Wench came across a plaque listing Abbott as the winner of the 1900 Olympic golfing tournament with a government report acknowledging this. Thus, Abbott had become the first woman to win an Olympic gold medal without even knowing it.