Margaret Abbott was the first American woman to win an Olympic event, claiming gold in golf at Paris 1900. But the Games were so poorly organised many competitors, including Abbott, did not realise they were taking part in the Olympics. Historical research did not establish golf was on the Olympic programme until after her death in 1955, so she never knew it. Her mother, Mary, a novelist, also competed in the event, finishing joint seventh, making it the first - and still only - Olympic event in which mother and daughter competed together.