Ladies who punch: Vintage pictures show pioneering sportswomen boxing, swimming and playing football a century ago

London 2012 was dubbed the women's Olympics thanks to the opportunities made available for females to finally compete in traditionally male-dominated sports including football and boxing.
But one may wonder why it has taken so long for women to gain some equality in sport - as these vintage pictures show sisters doing it for themselves more than one hundred years ago.
The remarkable photographs, supplied by the U.S. Library of Congress, are taken from the George Grantham Bain Collection - one of America's first news picture agencies.

Take that: The female competitors - whose names are recorded as Fraulein Kussin and Mrs Edwards - fought on 7 March 1912

Girl power: But while women were boxing at the start of the 20th century, it wasn't until more than a hundred years later they were allowed to compete in the Olympics

The photos show how Edwardian women were pushing the boundaries imposed on them by their gender by proving they could fight, swim and play football just like men.

 

One of the pictures shows 'Mrs Edwards and Faurlein Kussin' in the boxing ring for a bout on 7 March 1912. Befitting of the time, neither of them wear any protective head gear and one of them wears a dress as she throws a punch at her opponent.
During this period, women's boxing and wrestling would often be held as theatrical displays as part of Vaudeville entertainment.

World champion: Rose Pitonof proved women could swim long distances by completing a 17 mile challenge

Men and women's boxing was then introduced at the modern Olympic games in 1904 as display events. However, while the men's participation was accepted, the women's was not. It was more than one hundred years until women were finally allowed to compete in the Olympics with Britain's Nicola Adams winning the first gold medal for women's boxing in 2012.
It wasn't just in boxing that women defied expectations at the start of the 20th century.

Rose Pitonof made history as she proved that women can be capable endurance swimmers.
As a 15 year old in 1910, she was the first woman to complete the eight mile Boston Light Swim and blew the men who towed the start line with her out of the water - beating them all in a time of six hours 50 minutes.

Winner: Wimbledon champion May Sutton shocked the Edwardian crowd with her shorter skirt that exposed her ankles

Williams sisters of their day: May's sibling Florence was also a successful player

She became a household name and a world champion long distance swimmer as she went on to complete a number of other endurance events including a 17 mile swim  from Manhattan to Steeplechase Pier, Coney Island in 1911. She died in 1984 aged 89 but her legacy lives on with the annual 17 mile Rose Pitonof Centennial Swim.
Other pioneering women in sport captured in the George Grantham Bain Collection are tennis stars May and Florence Sutton - the Williams sisters of their day.
British born May grew up in the U.S. after her parents emigrated when she was a child. She won her first Grand Slam title in 1904 and then won the Wimbledon title in 1905.
Her appearance at the British championship caused a stir because she broke with tradition by wearing a shorter skirt than was usually seen on the female players which flashed her ankles. She shocked further by rolling up her sleeves to expose her elbows. Such public 'flashing of the flesh' was unheard of at the time.

Kicking for equality: Other pictures in the archives show women playing football and baseball

She won the Wimbledon title again in 1907 beating the British favourite Dorothea Lambert Chambers.
Meanwhile, her sister Florence was also a formidable player who made the U.S.Open singles and doubles finals.
Further pictures in the Library of Congress archives show women playing football and baseball at the turn of the last century.