Hélène de Pourtalès

Hélène de Pourtalès

Personal information
Birth name	Helen Barbey
Nationality	Swiss
Born	28 April 1868 New York, United States
Died	2 November 1945 (aged 77) Geneva, Switzerland
Sailing career
Class(es)	1 — 2 ton
Club	Union des Yachtsmen
Competition record Sailing Competitor for   Switzerland Olympic Games 1900 Paris 1 — 2 ton 1st race 1900 Paris 1 — 2 ton 2nd race
Updated on 8 May 2015.

Hélène de Pourtalès (28 April 1868 New York – 2 November 1945 Geneva), born as Helen Barbey, was a Swiss sailor who competed in the 1900 Summer Olympics.^[1]

She was a crewmember of the Swiss boat Lérina, which won the gold medal in the first race of 2-3 ton class and silver medal in the second race of 2-3 ton class. She also participated in the open class but did not finish. Her husband Hermann as helmsman and her husband's nephew Bernard was also a crew member. She was also one of the first women to take part in the Olympics. She was very well known after her gold medal in the Olympics where women were allowed to take part for the very first time, becoming the first woman to win a gold medal 2 months before Charlotte Cooper.

Further reading

• Exposition Universelle Internationale de 1900, Concours D'Exercices Physiques et de Sports (PDF) (in French). Imprimerie Nationale. 1901. Retrieved 2014-02-08.

References

1. "Hélène de Pourtalès Bio, Stats, and Results". Olympic Sports. Retrieved 2014-02-08.