A landmark moment for female athletes

The honour fell to the Italian Alpine skier Giuliana Chenal-Minuzzo. An Olympic bronze medallist in the women’s downhill in Oslo four years earlier, Chenal-Minuzzo was the first of the 11 women to date who have sworn the Olympic oath at an Opening Ceremony. At the Beijing 2022 Opening Ceremony, female coach Ji Xiaoou made the oath on behalf of the coaches.

The VII Olympic Winter Games were the first Olympic Games to be broadcast live to a multinational audience, with thousands of television viewers across Europe watching Chenal-Minuzzo make history. A three-time Olympian who also won giant slalom bronze at Squaw Valley 1960, the Italian was again involved at the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Winter Games Torino 2006, holding the Olympic flag while fellow Italian skier Giorgio Rocca swore the oath.

Chenal-Minuzzo was one of 134 female athletes at Cortina d’Ampezzo 1956, where women made up just over 16 per cent of all athletes, an increase of 1.5 per cent on Oslo 1952. Female participation has gradually increased at the Olympic Games over the years. Tokyo 2020 was the first gender-equal Olympic Games in history, with women accounting for almost 49 per cent of all athletes. The IOC has also requested that all 206 National Olympic Committees have at least one female and one male athlete in their teams and has encouraged them all to have their flags carried by one female and one male athlete.