Born in 1884 in the western French city of Nantes, Alice Milliat was a keen rower and swimmer who, in 1922, established the Women’s Olympic Games in Paris. Just over 100 years later, this summer’s Games will be the first to see the same number of women athletes as men compete.
As a young woman, Milliat – born Alice Million, to working-class parents – spent time in England, where she married Joseph Milliat, who was also from Nantes.
