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History of Women in the Olympic Games
The first woman to win a medal in sailing at the Olympic Games was Frances Rivett-Carnac (GBR) at the 1908 Olympics held in London (GBR). Frances was part of the Gold Medal winning crew of four sailing in the 7 Metre Class.

The next Olympic games to see a woman win a medal were the 1920 Olympics in Antwerp (BEL) where Dorothy Wright (GBR) was also part of the Gold Medal winning 7 Metre Class crew.

It was another 8 years during the 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam (NED) for the next women medallist. This time the honors went to Virginie Heriot (FRA) who took the Gold Medal as part of a crew of 6 in the 8 Metre Class.

The 8 year cycle for women winning medals was repeated again as it was not until the 1936 Olympics in Berlin (GER) that another woman could take to the podium. Dagmar Salen (SWE) was part of the Bronze Medal crew of 5 in the 6 Metre Class.

After the break in Olympic Games for World War II there were no women medallists until the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki (FIN). This time two women went home with medals Vibeker Lunde (NOR) won the Silver Medal as part of the crew of 3 in the 5.5 Metre Class and Emelyn Whiton was one of 6 crew members who took the Gold Medal in the 6 Metre Class.

1988 and the Olympics in Seoul (KOR) saw for the first time the introduction of a women's event for sailing. This trend has continued and there were four women's events for the first time at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens (GRE) when a women's keelboat class, the Yngling, was introduced.

The tables below indicate the medal winners in the women's events for the 1988 Olympics onwards.

 

 

Double-handed dinghy women - 470

Medal Name NOC

1988 Seoul (KOR)
Gold Allison JOLLY & Lynne JEWELL USA
Silver Marit SODERSTROM &Birgitta BENGTSSON SWE
Bronze Larisa MOSKALENKO & Irina SHUNIKHOVSKAYA URS

1992 Barcelona (ESP)
Gold Theresa ZABELL & Patricia GUERRA CABRERA ESP
Silver Leslie EGNOT & Janet SHEARER NZL
Bronze Jennifer ISLER & Pamela HEALY USA

1996 Atlanta (USA)
Gold Theresa ZABELL & Begona VIA DUFRESNE ESP
Silver Yumiko SHIGE & Alicia KINOSHITA JPN
Bronze Ruslana TARAN & Olena PAKHOLCHYK UKR

2000 Sydney (AUS)
Gold Jenny ARMSTRONG & Belinda STOWELL AUS
Silver JJ ISLER & Pease GLASER USA
Bronze Ruslana TARAN & Olena PAKHOLCHYK UKR

2004 Athens (GRE)
Gold Sofia BEKATOROU & Emilia TSOULFA GRE
Silver Natalia VIA DUFRESNE & Sandra AZON AUS
Bronze Therese TORGERSSON & Vendela ZACHRISSON SWE

 

 

Single-handed dinghy women - Europe

Medal Name NOC

1992 Barcelona (ESP)
Gold Linda ANDERSEN NOR
Silver Natalia VIA DUFRESNE PERENA ESP
Bronze Julia TROTMAN USA

1996 Atlanta (USA)
Gold Kristine ROUG DEN
Silver Margriet MATTHYSSE NED
Bronze Courtenay BECKER-DEY USA

2000 Sydney (AUS)
Gold Shirley ROBERTSON GBR
Silver Margriet MATTHYSSE NED
Bronze Serena AMATO ARG

2004 Athens (GRE)
Gold Siren SUNDBY NOR
Silver Lenka SMIDOVA CZE
Bronze Signe LIVJBERG DEN


Women's keelboat - Yngling

Medal Name BOC

2004 Athens (GRE)
Gold Shirley ROBERTSON
Sarah WEBB
Sarah AYTON
GBR
Silver Ruslana TARAN
Svitlana MATEVUSHEVA
Ganna KALININA
UKR
Bronze Dorte JENSEN
Helle JESPERSEN
Christina OTZEN
DEN


Windsurfer Women - Mistral

Medal Name NOC

1996 Atlanta (USA)
Gold Lai Shan LEE HKG
Silver Barbara KENDALL NZL
Bronze Alessandra SENSINI ITA

2000 Sydney (AUS)
Gold Alessandra SENSINI ITA
Silver Amelie LUX GER
Bronze Barbara KENDALL NZL

2004 Athens (GRE)
Gold Faustine MERRET FRA
Silver Jian YIN CHN
Bronze Alessandra SENSINI ITA


Windsurfer Women - Lechner

Medal Name NOC

1992 Barcelona (ESP)
Gold Barbara KENDALL NZL
Silver Xiaodong ZHANG CHN
Bronze Dorien de VRIES NED
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