5 Most Embarrassing Moments In Women’s Sports History

1. The 1928 Olympics – When Female Runners Were Called “Wretched”

The first-ever women’s 800m race in Olympic history was supposed to be a triumph. Instead, it became a disaster that banned women from running anything longer than 200 meters for 32 years. After several exhausted runners collapsed at the finish line, one journalist famously wrote about “11 wretched women, 5 of whom dropped out before the finish, while 5 collapsed after reaching the tape”. The event was deemed “not a very edifying spectacle” and women’s distance running was effectively killed for three decades.