Hélène de Pourtalès was the first woman to compete at the Olympics and the first female Olympic medalist. Hélène de Pourtalès was a Swiss sailor on the boat Lérina, which won the gold medal in the first race of the 1-2 ton class (which was part of the Olympic program) and silver medal in the second race of 1-2 ton class (part of the Expo program). She also participated in the open class, but did not finish. Hélène was 32 at the time of the Olympics.
