Women's golf trailblazer: Margaret Abbott

The Paris Olympics 2024 marks the third time the Games will be held in the city, with previous editions in 1900 and 1924. Paris joins London (1908, 1948, and 2012) as the only cities to have hosted the Summer Olympics three times.

Golf will be making its third Summer Olympic Games appearance in a row in Paris after being reinstated for the 2016 Rio Games. It had been a 112-year wait after golf was first included back in the 1900 and 1904 Olympic Games. On May 27, 1899, the Organising Committee for the 1900 Paris Olympics included golf in the list of sports. In 1900, both men and women competed, while in 1904 in St. Louis, only men competed.

So, it may only be golf's fifth time being played in the Summer Olympics but it will be the second time that Paris has hosted an Olympic Golf Competition.

On looking back at the 1900 Paris Olympics we came across an amazing fact from the women's golf competition.

The winner Margaret Ives Abbott was the USA's first-ever female Olympic champion, this was an achievement that she remained unaware of for the rest of her life!

Whilst some may believe it was Nelly Korda who was the first American woman to win a gold medal in golf, it was in fact Abbott 121 years earlier.

The 1900 Paris Olympics

Rather than running for a couple of weeks, the 1900 Paris Olympics ran from May to October to coincide with the Paris World Fair. This was the second Olympic Games of the modern era and the first to feature women. These women competed in a number of different events that included golf, angling, archery, boules, croquet, equestrian, rowing, sailing and tennis.

Where did the 1900 Paris Olympic golf competition take place?

Due to the Paris Olympics and Paris World Fair running at the same time, it appears that there was some confusion around the golf competition. Even more so when the competition was called 'Prix de la ville de Compiègne'.

The women's golf competition was held on October 4, 1900 at Compiègne Golf Club which was 50 miles north west of central Paris. The competition was held over nine holes, with 19 golfers competing. There was also a large and enthusiastic crowd watching.

In the end, the 1900 Paris Olympic women's golf event was won by Margaret Abbott with a round of 47. In second place was Miss Polly Whittier (49) of St Moritz Golf Club, Switzerland, with Mrs Abbie Huger Pratt (53) of the USA finishing third.

What was also unique to the women's golf competition was that Margaret's mother Mary was also participating and finished seventh with a round of 65. To this day, they remain the only mother and daughter to have competed in the same Olympic event at the same time.

For winning the competition Margaret received an antique porcelain bowl embellished with gold. The American was completely unaware that she had won an Olympic competition, something that remained that way even after she died aged 76 on 10th June 1955.

Who was Margaret Ives Abbott?

Margaret Abbott was born in Kolkata, formerly Calcutta, India on 15th June 1878. Margaret's father was an American Merchant whilst her mother was a literary reviewer and novelist. The family moved to Chicago, Illinois in 1884. She learnt to play golf at Chicago Golf Club, where she learnt from leading amateur male American golfers of the time.

Margaret arrived in Paris in 1899 with her mother Mary with the intention of studying art in the French capital whilst also attending the World Fair.

After winning in Paris, Margaret returned to America where she married Finley Peter Dunnin in December 1902. They moved to New York and had four children.

As already stated, she died in Greenwich, Connecticut in June 1955.

How was Margaret Abbott's achievement finally revealed?

As an article from the National Women's History Museum states:

"Abbott’s story might have remained hidden without the research of Paula Welch, a professor at the University of Florida specializing in the Olympics and sports history. Welch spent a decade researching Abbott’s life. Welch first discovered Abbott’s name on a plaque at the United States Olympic Committee’s headquarters in New York. She searched newspaper records, Paris Exposition reports, and Abbott’s death certificate in order to uncover more of her story. Welch contacted Abbott’s son Philip Dunne who had no idea that his mother had won the Olympic golf competition in 1900. Because the US Olympic team did not list Abbott as a member and she just showed up for the competition, some of her history was lost until the 1990s."

A fascinating story of a woman who had no idea that she was not only a trailblazer in women's golf but in women's sport as a whole, being one of the first to compete in the Olympic Games and become the first female gold medallist for Team USA. An incredible achievement that we hope gets spoken about more.

You can read the full research from Paul Welch via the link - the Search for Margaret Abbott.