The Third Women’s World Games, Prague, 1930

Preparations, organization, and media portrayal of the third Women’s World Games, held in Prague from September 6–8, 1930, confirm that it was a significant event in the process of women’s emancipation in sport in the interwar period. Prague hosted the Women’s World Games largely due to the exceptional efforts of representatives of the Czechoslovak Association of Handball and Women’s Sports, who were also represented in the executive of the International Women’s Sports Federation. The games took place at a time when the organization of women’s athletics at the international level was being taken over by the International Amateur Athletic Federation and, in Czechoslovakia, by the national athletics federation. The organizers expanded the programme of the games to include additional sports, contributing to the emancipation of women’s sport at the national level. The Prague games confirmed the increasing performance level of female athletes, which was also recognized in media coverage. Journalists covered the Women’s World Games in a manner similar to men’s competitions. At the same time, the Prague Games revealed barriers to the emancipation of women’s sport, particularly the male dominance in leadership of sports associations and their paternalistic approach to women’s sport.