Helene De Pourtales was an American-born Swiss sailor who competed in the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris representing Switzerland and became the first woman to win an Olympic gold medal, paving the way for other women to compete at the Olympics. Here is how Helene broke every patriarchal barrier to become the first Female Olympic Champion.
Biography
Helene De Pourtales was born on April 28, 1868, in New York City to Henry Isaac Barbey and Mary Barbey. Her father was a financier and a director of the Buffalo, Rochester, and Pittsburgh Railway. Her maternal grandparents were American Business magnates, who made their fortune as the founders of P. Lorillard and Company, an American Tobacco Company.
According to historian reports, the life of the young Hélène revolved around clothes, formal dinners, balls, and handsome cavaliers. She had lived in Bellevue since childhood because, according to her father, the climate at Lake Geneva was better suited for family life than the coal-dust-choked metropolis of New York.
From an early age, Helene had followed the sporting activities of Baroness von Rothschild on the water. The Baroness was sometimes accompanied by a ‘kindly, amiable’ lady: Empress Elisabeth of Austria. So it was inevitable that Hélène would be interested in boating, especially as it was also the number one topic at the soirées she attended. Instead of steamers, however, she opted for sailing boats.
In 1891 Helene married Hermann de Pourtalès. With her husband, she participated in numerous regattas, not just on Lake Geneva but also around Cannes. Hélène was a very experienced sailor, spending every summer on the lake and training in Newport in the off-season. She also attended the America’s Cup, in which yachtsmen had vied for the trophy known as the ‘Auld Mug’ since 1851.
Olympic Victory
The 1900 Summer Olympics also known as Paris 1900, was scheduled to take place from 14 May to 28 October as part of the World Exposition in France. For the first time, women were allowed to compete in the multi-sport event. However, only five disciplines – golf, tennis, sailing, croquet, and equestrianism were opened to women.
After achieving a string of victories in Switzerland, Hélène and Hermann de Pourtalès registered for the Games with their sailboat Lerina. So it came about that Hélène was among the first female competitors at the Olympic Games. She served on the boat crew as a Skipper, her husband was the helmsman, and her husband’s nephew Bernard was also a member of the crew.
The race started on 20 May in Meulan. All boats weighing less than 10 tons had to complete the race to be allowed to sail in their respective category in the succeeding days. Helene and her crew won the gold medal in the first race of the 1–2 ton class and the silver medal in the second race of the 1–2 ton class. They also participated in the open class but did not finish.
The Paris 1900 Games featured several other historic feats for other women around the world, including Great Britain’s Charlotte Cooper who became the first female individual champion in Olympic history with her victory in the tennis competition, and Margaret Abbott who became the first female American to win gold at the Games.
Death and Legacy
Hélène de Pourtalès’s Olympic victory brought her little fame in the world of sports and among the Geneva aristocracy. She was however unknown throughout the rest of the world, as sports was then considered only a masculine domain. In addition, Hélène’s international sporting career was limited to the Olympic Games of 1900.
Helene and her husband lived together until 1904 when Hermann died on 9 July, leaving behind a considerable legacy worth more than six million US dollars. She however passed away in Geneva at the age of 77 in 1945 in complete anonymity.
However thanks to 21st century historians, Helene is now globally recognized as one of the people who paved the way for women to compete at the Olympic Games and the first Female Olympic Champion.
