History shows that the evolution of women's participation in the Olympic Movement has been increasing over the years, since their first participation in the 1900 Olympic Games and especially in the last 30 years. This evolution has taken place within a favourable social, political and cultural framework where women’s issues started to be addressed and led to major actions and regulations which recognised and defended women’s rights at all levels of society.
The work of women’s rights groups was particularly relevant to the advancement of women in sport. Access to sport has been part of international instruments and documents, which the United Nations and other institutions approved and promoted in the 1970s and 1980s. Sport and physical activities have been recognised as having a positive impact on health and as a tool to eliminate socially-constructed gender stereotypes. This progress could be made thanks also to the strong determination of women from different countries of the world who persistently worked to be fully part of the sports movement and of its development.
Over decades, scientific research and knowledge have managed to get rid of many myths based on female morphology and many preconceptions arguing that sport was harmful to women’s health and reproductive health in particular. Health studies have provided many positive feedbacks on the benefit of physical activity and sport for young girls and women to fight non-communicable diseases and to ensure better aging. Even more, the benefits of physical activity and sport have been positively measured in terms of psycho-pedagogical effects: from socialisation to self-esteem building, girls and women engaged in sport have been strengthened and managed to reach out of their traditional role in society. Learning to win, to have fun and success through sport, were among the best schools of life. Mentalities became more receptive to this truth and physical education and sport would be more accessible to young girls at schools.
The Olympic Movement and the sports community at large followed this movement and progressively undertook initiatives to allow broader participation by women in sport in general. More sports and disciplines opened up to women at all levels and in most countries of the world. What were considered "endurance sports or disciplines" impossible for women, such as the 800-metres or marathon race, weightlifting, cycling or martial arts, are now performed by both women and men. We have seen a transformation of the so-called “tomboys” into sportswomen with talent, performances and skills as well as a personal way to practise and represent sport. Especially in the last 20 years, the IOC has pressed to ensure that the women’s programme at the Olympic Games was enlarged, in cooperation with the respective International Sports Federations (IFs) and the Organising Committees for the Olympic Games (OCOGs). This development was further reinforced by the IOC’s decision that all sports seeking inclusion in the programme must include women’s events. The IOC also started to work on women’s involvement at leadership level in sport in 1981, under the initiative of former President Juan Antonio Samaranch, who wanted to have women co-opted as IOC members. As a result, 15 members out of 113 are women.
Following the recommendations of the Study Commission of the IOC Centennial Olympic Congress in 1994, an IOC Women and Sport Working Group was created in 1995 to advise the IOC Executive Board on suitable policies to be implemented in this field. In 2004, the Working Group became the IOC Women and Sport Commission.
These recommendations also requested that the Olympic Charter was amended to include for the first time in history, an explicit reference to the need for work in this area:
"The IOC strongly encourages, by appropriate means, the promotion of women in sport at all levels and in all structures, particularly in the executive bodies of national and international sports organizations with a view to the strict application of the principle of equality of men and women."
Rule 2, paragraph 5, Olympic Charter in force as from 18.07.1996
