Who is the first female winner of the Olympics?

The first female winner of the modern Olympic Games was Stamata Revithi, a Greek athlete who competed in the 1896 Athens Games. Her victory was not in a traditional athletic event, but in a marathon race that she ran alone, without any other competitors.

Stamata Revithi was born in 1866 in the village of Agios Georgios in the Peloponnese region of Greece. Little is known about her early life, but it is believed that she was a schoolteacher and a mother before she became interested in running.

Revithi was an enthusiastic supporter of the modern Olympic Games, which were first held in Athens in 1896. However, women were not allowed to compete in the Games, as they were considered to be too physically frail and weak to participate in sports.

Despite this, Revithi was determined to prove that women could be just as athletic and strong as men. She began training for the marathon, which was not an official Olympic event at the time but was held in Athens as part of the celebration of the Games.

On April 9, 1896, the day of the marathon race, Revithi arrived at the starting line in her traditional Greek dress, with a long skirt and a headscarf. The other runners, all men, looked at her with surprise and amusement, but she was undeterred.

The marathon course was 40 kilometers (about 25 miles) long, and it followed the route of the ancient Greek messenger Pheidippides, who had run from the city of Marathon to Athens to deliver news of a military victory.

Revithi set off on the course alone, without any other competitors. She ran through the streets of Athens, past cheering crowds and under a scorching sun. At one point, she collapsed from exhaustion, but she got up again and continued running.

Finally, after more than four hours, Revithi crossed the finish line at the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens. She had completed the marathon course and become the first woman to ever finish a race at the modern Olympic Games.

Revithi's victory was not officially recognized by the International Olympic Committee, as women were not allowed to compete in the Games at the time. However, her achievement inspired other women to take up sports and to demand equal opportunities in athletic competition.

Today, women compete in every sport at the Olympic Games, and their achievements are celebrated alongside those of their male counterparts. Stamata Revithi's brave and pioneering run in 1896 helped to pave the way for this progress, and she will always be remembered as a trailblazer in women's sports.