The Games were held as part of the 1900 World's Fair. In total, 997 competitors took part in 19 different sports. This number relies on certain assumptions about which events were and were not "Olympic". Many athletes, among them some who won events, didn't know that they had competed in the Olympic Games. Women took part in the games for the first time, and sailor Hélène de Pourtalès, born Helen Barbey in New York City, became the first female Olympic champion. The decision to hold competitions on a Sunday brought protests from many American athletes, who traveled as representatives of their colleges and were expected to withdraw rather than compete on their religious day of rest.