7 40 percent of the athletes at the 2014 Winter Games The first women to win gold medals at the 1924 Winter Games were in Sochi Russia Austrians Helene Engelmann and Herma Planck Szabo Engelmann With the increase won for mixed pairs figure skating in opportunities to Planck Szabo won the figure skating gold compete came the first batch of female athletic stars Norwegian figure skater Sonja Henie was 11 years old when she competed in the 1924 Winter Games in Chamonix France She finished last but she didn't let that get her down Henie came back to take the gold medal in 1928 1932 and 1936 Henie remains the only woman to win three gold medals in singles figure skating Fanny Blankers Koen was another early star She was a track and field athlete from the Netherlands who set 16 world records in eight events Blankers Koen saved her best performances for the 1948 London Olympics where she won gold medals in the 100 and 200 meter dashes the 80 meter hurdles and 4x100 relay She might have won more but at the time athletes could only compete in three individual events Fanny Blankers Koen foreground clears the last hurdle in the 80 meter finals at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London
8 Larisa Latynina performs on the balance beam at the 1960 Summer Games
WOMEN'S OLYMPIC GAMES Although women began competing in the Olympics early in the 20th century they weren't initially allowed to participate in one of its most prestigious events track and field That led French athlete and activist Alice Milliat to start the Women's Olympic Games in 1922 The new competition was popular enough that the IOC allowed women to compete in track and field in the 1928 Summer Games in Amsterdam the Netherlands 9 Blankers Koen had to fight against prejudices that many female athletes have often faced She was often criticized for competing in sports rather than focusing on being a mom to her kids Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina is one of the most decorated athletes of all time She won 18 medals total in the 1956 1960 and 1964 Games That's more than any other female athlete summer or winter Nine of Latynina's medals were gold including three in the floor exercise and two all around victories She's also one of only three women to win the same event three times in the Summer Olympics
