“It was the USSR, as an emerging basketball power in the 1950s, that first called on Olympic leaders to officially add women's basketball to the program as a medal sport, a half century after the Fort Shaw girls demonstrated the game in St. Louis. Their first attempt came during a June 1955 meeting of the International Olympic Committee in Paris, where the Soviets asked delegates to vote on the adding women's competitions in volleyball, basketball, speed skating, and rowing, all of which were already open to male athletes.” WomenEqualityRussiaOlympicsEquityIoc Book:Inaugural Ballers: The True Story of the First US Women's Olympic Basketball Team Source: Inaugural Ballers: The True Story of the First US Women's Olympic Basketball Team