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Charlotte Cooper was a Londoner who had already won Wimbledon in 1895. Cooper was almost completely deaf, and she went on to take the Wimbledon singles crown five times in all. Cooper's last title came in 1908, when she was 37 years old.
Correct answer: Option C (Charlotte Cooper). Cooper won the women's singles tennis title at the Paris Games in July 1900, which makes her the first woman to become an individual Olympic champion. Cooper also won the mixed doubles that year, partnering Reginald Doherty. Why the other options are wrong: Option A (Hélène de Pourtalès): Pourtalès, a Swiss sailor, won gold in 1900 as part of a mixed crew, so she counts as the first woman champion in a team event, not an individual one. Option B (Fanny Blankers-Koen): Blankers-Koen, the Dutch sprinter, won four golds at London in 1948, nearly half a century later. Option D (Wilma Rudolph): Rudolph, the American sprinter, won three golds at Rome in 1960, also far later. Remember: the word individual is what points to Cooper rather than Pourtalès.
