# Historical question: Did sport divisions start segregating by sex because women were beating men in competitions? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [July 23, 2026, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-question-did-sport-divisions-start-segregating-by-sex-because-women-were-beating-men-in-competitions/1031876 "2026-07-23T16:24:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2026, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-question-did-sport-divisions-start-segregating-by-sex-because-women-were-beating-men-in-competitions/1031876/81 "2026-07-24T20:42:02Z")
> [@ZosterSandstorm](#): > > The six-on-six, no-dribbling, no-crossing-halfcourt variant of basketball was the standard version for high school girls at one time, and lasted until [as late as the 1990s](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six-on-six_basketball) in Iowa and Oklahoma. It was in Iowa! > [@ZosterSandstorm](#): > > Remember also that the NCAA did not sponsor women’s basketball until 1981, and other seemingly permanent features of the game are surprisingly recent - the three-point line did not come to high school boys’ basketball until 1987, and most states still do not use a shot clock. The NBA Finals had no live TV coverage as late as 1981. Essentially everything about “modern basketball” dates to the popularity of Johnson and Bird in the 80s and would be unrecognizable to, say, a teenager in 1971 who is young enough to be around retirement age today. For sure. I grew up in West Los Angeles and went to Laker games with my dad starting in 1970 or so and when I was in High School in the early 80s I went to lots of Laker games with my friends. I was there at the Forum when they won it all in 1982. Unless they were playing the Celtic or the 76ers or something, lots of tickets were available on game day and you got half price tickets with student ID so it cost $3.50 for a cheap seat and you could always sneak down to better seats. I sat courtside once because someone didn’t show up. As I mentioned above, I was at Game 6 of the finals when they won it all. My seat was at half court about right in front of the press box. I bought my ticket from a scalper for $35, about a day’s pay at minimum wage. ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2026, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-question-did-sport-divisions-start-segregating-by-sex-because-women-were-beating-men-in-competitions/1031876/82 "2026-07-24T22:23:03Z")
Here’s a history of women’s basketball rules. It was for a long time quite different from men’s. [http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/w\_basketball\_RB/2019/Rules\_History.pdf](http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/w_basketball_RB/2019/Rules_History.pdf) ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2026, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-question-did-sport-divisions-start-segregating-by-sex-because-women-were-beating-men-in-competitions/1031876/83 "2026-07-24T22:40:36Z")
> [@peccavi](#): > > One advantage that most people don’t think about can be demonstrated by the following competition: > > Participants stand with up against against a wall. A piece of paper is placed on the floor about 2-3 feet from the wall (at least, I think it’s just a piece of paper- a bunch of bored grad students, including me, tried this one day). The challenge is to bend from the waist, keeping heels and butt against the wall and…pick up the paper. > > It was amazing to see the fittest men fail while all the women accomplished it easily. More a “curiosity” than “amazing” IMHO. > [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Women have more flexible tendons, ligaments, and muscles than men in general. It’s an “engineering” tradeoff; greater flexibility in return for lesser strength, while men are stronger but stiffer. Um…phrasing?😃 ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2026, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-question-did-sport-divisions-start-segregating-by-sex-because-women-were-beating-men-in-competitions/1031876/84 "2026-07-24T23:15:58Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > A common t-shirt at ultramarathons says Here for the Women’s Race. > > DrDeth: Okay. I see. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2026, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-question-did-sport-divisions-start-segregating-by-sex-because-women-were-beating-men-in-competitions/1031876/85 "2026-08-16T17:06:58Z")
> [@Jegpeg](#): > > I suspect that skeet shooting was segregated because nearly all the top competitors were men. For a number of years (probably going back to at least the 1990s) the Olympics have wanted to equalise the number of male and female competitors and one of the ways of doing that is to segregate sports like skeet shooting, so instead of having one event with 95% of the competitors male to have two events and equal numbers of men and women. I checked Wikipedia and in the summer games the U.S. Olympic Team has had more women than men since 2012. I suspect the disparity is because of sports like soccer; the U.S. men don’t always qualify for the Games, and the women do. In the process of checking that, I noticed that Olympic soccer at the last few Games have had 16 men’s teams and 12 women’s. For 2028 that will be reversed; 16 women’s teams and 12 men’s. I’ve never crunched the number, but I wonder how many events there are for men and women across the entirety of an Olympics. Men’s gymnastics (the traditional sort) have two more apparatus than the women; the events in rhythmic gymnastics are only for women. For the last Olympics the rules for artistic swimming were changed to allow 2 men on each team in the mixed event, although none actually participated. I think women’s swimming used to have fewer events than the men’s (no 1500m, for example) but I don’t think that’s the case anymore. Google AI says there were 157 events for men and 152 for women (and 20 mixed gender) at the 2024 Games. I’m not getting a clear answer on the proportion of male and female athletes. ---
**Author:** ![We\_re\_wolves\_not\_werewolves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@We\_re\_wolves\_not\_werewolves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/We_re_wolves_not_werewolves)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2026, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-question-did-sport-divisions-start-segregating-by-sex-because-women-were-beating-men-in-competitions/1031876/86 "2026-08-16T17:43:59Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > A competition with only par 3s could be competitive as co-ed, yes? more competitive, but no, still not competitive. And the reason is that, let’s say the hole is 175 yards. Men are hitting maybe a 7 or 8 iron into that green with a much higher ball flight and backspin. Women are hitting maybe a 4 or 5 iron, at much lower trajectory and with much less backspin. Women will have trouble holding that green with their tee shots, while men will be able to take dead aim at the pin and have it stick close. ---
**Author:** ![CaveMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cavemike/32/16379_2.png) [@CaveMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaveMike)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2026, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-question-did-sport-divisions-start-segregating-by-sex-because-women-were-beating-men-in-competitions/1031876/87 "2026-08-16T18:05:22Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > . I’m not getting a clear answer on the proportion of male and female athletes. Paris 2024 Olympics were 50/50 male/female for the first time: > After having women represent 45.6% of competitors at Rio 2016 and 48.8% of competitors at Tokyo 2020, the 10,500 athlete quotas were allocated across the competition program to allow for an even 50-50 split of men and women at Paris 2024. Also: > The first time Paris hosted the Olympic Games in 1900, only 2.2 percent of competitors (22 of 997) were women. And: > When the Olympic Games returned to the French capital in 1924, the percentage had risen ever so slightly, but women still represented just 4.4 per cent of participating athletes (135 of 3089). Link: > **[Paris 2024 aims to have exact gender equality in athlete participants](https://olympic.ca/2022/04/01/paris-2024-to-have-exact-gender-equality-in-athlete-participants/)** > > The Olympic Games are finally expected to achieve full gender equality when it comes to the number of athletes competing at Paris 2024. Edit: Wikipedia says there were 10,714 athletes at the 2024 Olympics. ---
**Author:** ![Jegpeg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jegpeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jegpeg)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2026, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-question-did-sport-divisions-start-segregating-by-sex-because-women-were-beating-men-in-competitions/1031876/88 "2026-08-16T22:45:12Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Google AI says there were 157 events for men and 152 for women (and 20 mixed gender) at the 2024 Games. I’m not getting a clear answer on the proportion of male and female athletes. According to the wiki there were 5357 male athletes and 5357 female. This was the first time there had been as many female as male but the numbers of both were down on Tokyo “2020” (in 2021) (5982 male, 5494 female). The proportion of women has gradually increased over time, in 1896 there were no females, in 1900 there were 24 women (and 1202 men). The fastest rise was in the 80s and 90s, the proportion of women doubled from 20% in Moscow 1980 to 40% in Sydney 2000 > **[Summer Olympic Games](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summer_Olympic_Games)** > > The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, are a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the Kingdom of Greece, and the most recent was held in 2024 in Paris, France. This was the first international multi-sport event of its kind, organised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) founded by Pierre de Coubertin. The tradition of awarding medals be ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2026, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-question-did-sport-divisions-start-segregating-by-sex-because-women-were-beating-men-in-competitions/1031876/89 "2026-08-16T23:10:46Z")
> [@CaveMike](#): > > Paris 2024 Olympics were 50/50 male/female for the first time: I found that cite when I was looking, and another that had numbers of male and female athletes that weren’t equal, so I wasn’t sure which was correct. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2026, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-question-did-sport-divisions-start-segregating-by-sex-because-women-were-beating-men-in-competitions/1031876/90 "2026-08-17T12:34:51Z")
So, those 24 women in 1900… What did they compete in? With so few, it doesn’t seem likely that there were women’s-only competitions. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2026, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-question-did-sport-divisions-start-segregating-by-sex-because-women-were-beating-men-in-competitions/1031876/91 "2026-08-17T13:54:36Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > With so few, it doesn’t seem likely that there were women’s-only competitions. I’m not sure why you think that. There certainly were women’s only competitions namely golf, sailing, singles tennis and croquet. They also participated in equestrian which in my lifetime was always mixed gender but may not have been then. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2026, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-question-did-sport-divisions-start-segregating-by-sex-because-women-were-beating-men-in-competitions/1031876/92 "2026-08-17T14:02:12Z")
Women’s-only competitions surely existed at the time, but I’m saying in that particular Olympiad. Even one women’s event with solo competitors, with 24 nations each sending one competitor, would already account for all 24 female athletes, and a team event, or more countries participating, or multiple female events, would put it over. That’s why I don’t think that those 24 women were competing in women’s-only events. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2026, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-question-did-sport-divisions-start-segregating-by-sex-because-women-were-beating-men-in-competitions/1031876/93 "2026-08-17T14:55:05Z")
Poking around the wikipedia, I see that there were women’s only golf (an American took gold! USA!) and tennis events, and a co-ed croquet competition. There were three women in the croquet, and I’d guess the other 21 were divided between the golf and tennis. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2026, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-question-did-sport-divisions-start-segregating-by-sex-because-women-were-beating-men-in-competitions/1031876/94 "2026-08-17T14:58:04Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > That’s why I don’t think that those 24 women were competing in women’s-only events. You’re wrong. It turns out croquet was co-ed. I missed that. But there were women’s only events. ---
**Author:** ![3AxisCtrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/ecd19e/32.png) [@3AxisCtrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3AxisCtrl)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2026, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-question-did-sport-divisions-start-segregating-by-sex-because-women-were-beating-men-in-competitions/1031876/95 "2026-08-17T15:06:06Z")
To return to the OP’s question: It appears the answer is a definite no; certainly none has been adduced in this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2026, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-question-did-sport-divisions-start-segregating-by-sex-because-women-were-beating-men-in-competitions/1031876/96 "2026-08-17T15:11:27Z")
While there has been some interesting discussion, did the OP ever come back to actually provide any examples of where the idea was “shared online”? Did this ‘sharing’ actually ever happen? If it did, was it beyond the level of internet randos tossing out YouTube (or whatever) ‘theories’? ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2026, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-question-did-sport-divisions-start-segregating-by-sex-because-women-were-beating-men-in-competitions/1031876/97 "2026-08-17T19:34:05Z")
I’m not the OP, but I’ve seen this mentioned by people in discussion threads on reddit and fark. It’s even been stated in threads here on the SDMB. But just anecdotally. Never any actual cites. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2026, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-question-did-sport-divisions-start-segregating-by-sex-because-women-were-beating-men-in-competitions/1031876/98 "2026-08-17T21:58:49Z")
I made the argument here, and gave examples > [@Historical question: Did sport divisions start segregating by sex because women were beating men in competitions?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-question-did-sport-divisions-start-segregating-by-sex-because-women-were-beating-men-in-competitions/1031876/50): > > I have made this argument, but my claim is not that women were winning the top prizes. Yeah, maybe at shooting or speed puzzle solving, but not in general. My claim is that when our society first started letting girls play sports at all (something that happened mostly in my school cohort), they often did it by letting girls into the previously all-boy little league, etc. teams. Now, this is talking about kids, and at a point before everyone is segregated by ability and only the top players “m… ---
**Author:** ![3AxisCtrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/ecd19e/32.png) [@3AxisCtrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3AxisCtrl)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2026, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-question-did-sport-divisions-start-segregating-by-sex-because-women-were-beating-men-in-competitions/1031876/99 "2026-08-18T21:56:57Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > I made the argument here, and gave examples Your examples are plausible, but anecdotal. Do you have any examples of a sport division segregating by sex because women were beating men ? ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2026, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-question-did-sport-divisions-start-segregating-by-sex-because-women-were-beating-men-in-competitions/1031876/100 "2026-08-18T22:23:54Z")
I make no claims about “sports divisions”, and i think it’s implausible that women were beating men at high levels of anything, in enough numbers to matter. My claim is about how the social norm that “we should have all separate women’s events” rather than “we should generally allow anyone qualified into this event” came about. I’m sure that some sports would always have been segregated. Probably, there wouldn’t be a lot of women’s professional sports without segregation. But there might be a lot of coed little league stuff. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-question-did-sport-divisions-start-segregating-by-sex-because-women-were-beating-men-in-competitions/1031876.md?page=4)