1900 Summer Olympics

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Games of the II Olympiad

Poster for the fencing events at the 1900 Summer Olympics
Host city	Paris, France
Nations	26[note1]
Athletes	1226[note1]
Events	95 in 19 sports (21 disciplines) [note1]
Opening	14 May 1900
Closing	28 October 1900
Stadium	Vélodrome de Vincennes
← Athens 1896 St. Louis 1904 →

The 1900 Summer Olympics (French: Jeux olympiques d'été de 1900), today officially known as the Games of the II Olympiad (Jeux de la II^e olympiade) and also known as Paris 1900, were an international multi-sport event that took place in Paris, France, from 14 May to 28 October 1900. No opening or closing ceremonies were held. They were the very first Summer Olympics ever held in a non-leap year until the 2020 Summer Olympics, which were delayed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.^[1]

At the Sorbonne conference of 1894, Pierre de Coubertin proposed that the Olympic Games should take place in Paris in 1900. However, the delegates to the conference were unwilling to wait six years, and lobbied to hold the first games in 1896. A decision was made to hold the first Olympic Games in 1896 in Athens and have Paris host the second Games.

The Games were held as part of the 1900 World's Fair. In total, 1,226 competitors took part in 19 different sports.^[2][note1] This number relies on certain assumptions about which events were and were not "Olympic". Many athletes, some of whom had won events, were unaware that they had competed in the Olympic Games. Women took part in the games for the first time, with sailor Hélène de Pourtalès, born Helen Barbey in New York City,^[3] becoming the first female Olympic champion. The decision to hold competitions on a Sunday brought protests from many American athletes, who traveled as representatives of their colleges and were expected to withdraw rather than compete on their religious day of rest.

Most of the winners in 1900 did not receive medals but were given cups or trophies. Professionals competed in fencing, as was tradition, and Albert Robert Ayat (France), who won the épée for amateurs and masters, was awarded a prize of 3000 francs. Some events were contested for the only time in the history of the Games, including angling,^[4] motor racing,^[5] ballooning,^[6] cricket,^[7] croquet,^[8] Basque pelota,^[9] 200m swimming obstacle race and underwater swimming.^[10] This was also the only Olympic Games in history to use live animals (pigeons) as targets during the shooting event.^[11] The host nation of France fielded 72% of all athletes (720 of the 997) and won the most gold, silver and bronze medal placings. U.S. athletes won the second-most in each, while fielding the fifth most participants, 75. British athletes won the third-most in each, while fielding the second most participants, 102.^[12]