I have been researching the pioneers of women’s running and although there have been many names worth mentioning there is one story that I have found particularly intriguing. There is a tale of a woman who supposedly ran the marathon at the first ever modern Olympic games in 1896. Legend calls her Melphomene, a mysterious 30 year old greek woman who after learning about the existence of the Olympic games just days before it started decided she would run the marathon. However when she traveled to the start line and attempted to register she was denied entry, and this is what I love about her story, so she did what any true runner would do. On April 11th, the day after the men’s race, she set out to run the course on her own! Apparently she was even quoted by the local Athens paper in saying “should my shoes hinder me, I will remove them on the way and continue barefoot.” Legend states that she completed the marathon in roughly five and a half hours. While exploring this legend I found that there is also accounts of a woman named Stamata Rovithi who ran the 1896 marathon with a tale very similar to the accounts of Melphomene. Olympic historians believe that Rovithi and Melpomene were most likely the same person and the Greek woman was attributed the name of the Muse Melphomene(who is illustrated in the painting above but not actually Rovithi). Since women weren’t allowed to compete in the Olympics until 1900, and although Melphomene/Rovithi’s effort was never officially acknowledge by the Olympic governing body she is still essentially the first female Olympian. There is no known record survives of Revithi’s life after her run, just a legend…
