Bizarre Olympic Sports Of The Past
The Olympic Games are both a modern and an ancient event, with the modern Olympics starting in the late 19th century as a spiritual successor to the ancient games. Over the years, organizers have continually tweaked the formula to keep things interesting.
This means that certain events will ebb and flow in terms of popularity, with new sports being introduced as old ones fall out of favor. For every smash hit event, there are about a dozen weird and antiquated sports — and it's these forgotten oddities that we're here to celebrate.
Pistol dueling
This one sounds incredibly dangerous. Did people really take part in legit life-or-death duels during the Olympic games? As it turns out, they did participate in duels, but they weren't particularly dangerous.
At the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm, the dueling event consisted of...firing guns at mannequins (who were dressed in frock coats for some reason). It's like Olympic organizers wanted to see who the best assassin was but didn't want to assume the legal liability.
Live pigeon shooting
Shooting events have a place in athletic competitions, but most modern shooting events thankfully rely on firing at inanimate targets rather than actual living things. But sensibilities were different in 1900, when marksmen competed to see who could murder the most birds at the Paris Olympics.
The winner of the event was able to murder 21 pigeons, though more than 300 pigeons were killed in all. To this day, it's the only modern Olympic sport where animals have been intentionally killed.
Running deer shooting
This sounds like another event in which live animals were slaughtered, but unlike live pigeon shooting, this one didn't actually utilize live animals. Still, it was an incredibly bizarre sport.
At the 1908 London Olympics, competitors shot at deer cutouts with targets painted on them, which were moved back and forth at a high rate of speed to simulate real deer. The event was won by Oscar Swahn, a 60-year-old Swede who became the oldest gold medalist in history.
Solo synchronized swimming
Synchronized swimming, by the very definition of its name, seems to imply that at least one person needs to be involved in the sport. After all, if there's just one of you swimming, who are you synchronized with?
Regardless, in the Summer Olympics of 1984, 1988, and 1992, solo synchronized swimming was a thing. It isn't hard to understand why this is one sport that didn't stick around for the long haul — though its inclusion in three separate Olympiads is impressive.
200m swimming obstacle race
The Olympic Games have seen tons of different swimming events, and skilled swimmers can pick up a slew of gold medals at a single Olympiad (we're looking at you, Michael Phelps). At the 1900 Paris Olympics, organizers decided to see what would happen when you took the best swimmers in the world and added obstacles to the mix.
Swimmers at this event had to swim, climb a pole, swim some more, hurdle a bunch of boats, swim a little more, swim under some boats, and then swim to the finish line.
Roque
What is roque, you ask? Well, it's croquet, minus the first and last letters. This niche sport does, in fact, resemble croquet, and at one point, it was popular enough to be an Olympic event.
Croquet itself was an event at the 1900 Olympics, but organizers cut the event in favor of roque, which was a sport at the 1904 Olympics in St. Louis. The event was dominated by American competitors, which makes sense as the United States was the only country to compete in the event.
Plunge for distance
If you build a pool, it'll be no time before a bunch of people will find myriad ways to compete athletically within it. At the 1904 Olympics in St. Louis (possibly the most bizarre modern Olympiad), one such competition was called, uh, plunge for distance.
This competition is pretty much exactly what it sounds like. Competitors would dunk themselves into a pool and then try to drift underwater the farthest. The winner, if you're keeping score, managed a distance of 62.5 feet.
100m sailor swim
A sailor swim sounds like a certain type of swimming style, but in this case, the meaning was literal: This event was only open to sailors in the Greek Royal Navy.
This event took place at the 1896 Athens Olympics, which helps explain the Greek angle (and the experimental nature of the early modern Olympics may help explain the rest). As it turned out, only three competitors took part, which ensured that everyone took home a medal.
Poodle clipping
For those who've been waiting for a collaboration between the Westminster Dog Show and the Summer Olympics, we have disappointing news: This collaboration already happened more than a century ago and doesn't seem like it'll happen again.
At the 1900 Games, 128 competitors lined up to see who could clip the fur off of the most poodles in two hours. This event, of course, raises more questions than answers — and without video footage, we're left guessing as to how it might have looked.
Ballooning
At the turn of the 20th century, flying was all the rage. Hot air balloons had taken off in popularity, and the Wright Brothers were on the verge of creating their flying machine.
It stands to reason that the 1900 Olympics incorporated this craze in a novel way. The ballooning event awarded scores based on distance, altitude, duration, and distance traveled. While it sounds like a fun diversion, it was never again an official Olympic sport.
Chorus singing
There's no doubt that singing is a skilled and potentially competitive endeavor. But singing as an Olympic sport? It seems too weird to be true, but it actually happened — for decades, in fact.
Starting at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics, various arts, including sculpting, literature — and, of course, singing — were regularly competed in by various Olympians. Artistic events were cut following the 1948 Olympics in London. The final tally saw Germany win 24 artistic medals.
Club swinging
Any old caveman can swing a club around, but it takes a true artist to be able to swing a club with delicate precision. It's hard to believe that this was ever a sport, but club swinging was indeed competed in at the 1904 and 1932 Olympics.
What was club swinging, you ask? It was...swinging clubs, but artfully. Competitors used clubs that looked somewhat like rolling pins crossed with cricket bats and were awarded points for the precision and synchronization of their overall routine.
Horse long jump
Humans and horses have been teaming up for thousands of years, so it makes sense that (at some point) humans would find ways to compete against one another while on horseback.
What's a little more unusual is that some events seemingly rely entirely on the horse's athletic prowess, even though the human rider of the horse gets all the glory. At the 1900 Olympics in Paris, the horse long jump (and horse high jump!) were both competitive events.
Pole archery
The name of this event doesn't really describe what it consists of. Do competitors fire an arrow in the middle of a pole vault, or do they literally shoot arrows at poles?
In this case, they did neither. Pole archery, also known as popinjay, was an official event in 1900 and 1920. It saw competitors use a bow and arrow to shoot at fake birds that were suspended on a big pole.
Rope climbing
The bane of every gym class was also an opportunity for athletes to win glory across several of the early Olympiads. Rope climbing was an official Olympic sport between 1896 and 1932.
The rules changed over the years, and while the parameters were more complex at the early Olympics, they became more streamlined over time. By the time the 1932 Olympics rolled around, the competition was a simple race to the top of a 25-foot rope.
All-around dumbbell lifts
The rise of the modern Olympics coincided with a surge of interest in weightlifting, with old-time strongmen showing impressive feats of strength in lifting various heavy objects. This would seem like a fairly straightforward competition at the Olympics, but it was actually deeply weird.
The event lasted two days and consisted of several specific lifts and poses. The scoring system was incredibly difficult to figure out, and the whole event seemed needlessly complicated. It's no surprise that Olympic weightlifting looks much different now.
Cesta punta
This is a very niche sport unless you're in the Basque region, but it was an official sport at the 1900 Paris Olympics — and a variation of it was a demonstration sport in 1924, 1968, and 1992.
Cesta punta is part of a family of sports that are seen as predecessors to modern-day racket sports like tennis. Players lined up in a court with high walls and used an object to fling a hard, unforgiving ball against the walls.
Tug of war
Tug of war is a beloved competition, one that virtually everyone's taken part in at one time or another. Perhaps it isn't too surprising that this simple game was a big part of several Olympiads.
The rules changed slightly over the years, but in all, the event was competed in at five different Olympiads. The winning team at the 1900 Olympics was composed of athletes from Denmark and Sweden, meaning that both countries got a share of the gold.
Skijoring
Skijoring, which is a Norwegian term that translates roughly to "ski driving," is a process in which people on skis are towed along the snow or ice by a team of dogs or horses. It obviously had a practical application in Scandinavia, and at the 1928 St. Moritz Winter Olympics, organizers tried to make it an Olympic sport.
Competitors held on for dear life as a team of horses pulled them across a frozen lake. Skijoring sounds fun, but it never returned as an Olympic sport.
Motorboat racing
Motorboat racing might not be as popular as other motorized pursuits like car racing, but it still maintains a dedicated following. The sport was competed in at the 1908 Olympics before it was canceled.
The event certainly sounds more thrilling than many of the other Olympic events at the time, but it was a bit of a disaster, with high winds forcing many teams to quit the race. This is the event that made the IOC decide that motors had no place in Olympic competition.
Town planning
This sounds like a perfectly legitimate event at the Architectural Olympics if such a thing exists, but it feels a little out-of-place at something that's supposed to be an athletics competition.
Nonetheless, town planning was a popular enough event that medals were awarded at four separate Olympiads between 1928 and 1948. The event showcased some of the best architects of the day, but eventually, urban planning awards were phased out of the Olympics.
Sled dog racing
Nowadays, Alaska's Iditarod is easily the most prestigious sled dog racing competition in the world. But back in the 1930s, there was a bigger stage for this pursuit: The 1932 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York.
While this was just a demonstration sport, it was fiercely competed in by various teams. The 25-mile race took two days to complete, and was eventually won by Canadian Emil St. Goddard.
Bandy
Ice hockey was the premier team sport at the Winter Olympics, and at the 1952 Games in Oslo, a cousin of the popular game was competed in as a demonstration sport.
Bandy, which is mostly popular in Nordic countries, is essentially ice hockey that's played outdoors, on a much larger rink, with more players. Only Finland, Norway, and Sweden competed in this event, with Sweden taking home the top prize.
Military patrol
Plenty of sporting events have military applications, and sometimes things work the other way as well — with Olympic organizers awkwardly turning military drills into athletic competitions.
At the 1924 Winter Olympics (the first winter Olympiad), teams took part in a grueling event that combined cross-country skiing, mountain climbing, and rifle shooting. The event was never again an official Olympic sport, but it did return in 1928, 1936, and 1948 as a demonstration sport.
Bowling
Bowling definitely takes skill, and the fact that there are pro bowling leagues attests to its popularity and overall level of competition. Still, it feels weird to see something that's viewed as a leisurely pursuit competed in at the Olympics.
Bowling has never made it to official sport status at the Olympics, but that isn't for lack of trying. It was a demonstration event in 1988 and 1996 but it hasn't been seen at the Olympics since then.
Roller hockey
If ice hockey is popular at the Winter Olympics, surely roller hockey will be popular at the Summer Olympics, right? This rationale makes some sense, so roller hockey (hockey played on pavement, using inline skates) was an official demonstration sport at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.
Surprisingly, the powerhouses of ice hockey were nowhere to be seen in the final rankings. Argentina, Spain, and Italy were the top three finishers in this one-off event.
Water skiing
Water skiing can be a lot of fun, but it isn't for the faint-hearted — just ask anyone who's ever tried it out only to smash into the water at a high speed. At the 1972 Olympics, not one but three water skiing events were included as demonstration sports.
The event never returned to the Olympics, either as an official sport or a demonstration sport, which is somewhat surprising. One would think that it would be thrilling to watch.
American football
American football is one of the most popular, highest-earning sports in the world. But its international popularity is somewhat limited, and the talent pool is almost entirely composed of Americans, which means that national competitions aren't much of a thing.
Regardless, American football was tried out twice as a demonstration sport in the early days of the Olympics, in 1904 and then again in 1932. Although it's entertaining to watch, it wouldn't be particularly competitive as an Olympic sport.
Ski ballet
The Olympics has a habit of creating artistic pursuits out of purely athletic skill sets — just look at the popularity of synchronized swimming. One attempt that didn't quite take off was ski ballet, which was a demonstration event at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary.
In this event, teams would perform a synchronized acrobatics routine while accompanied by music. It doesn't sound too far removed from figure skating, one of the most popular events at the Winter Olympics.
Hurling
Hurling isn't just a thing that happens after you've exerted yourself too much as an Olympic athlete. It's also a beloved Irish sport that's really only popular on the Emerald Isle.
Despite its lack of global notoriety, hurling — which is somewhat similar to lacrosse — was a demonstration sport at the 1904 Olympics in St. Louis. It didn't catch on, but it's remained popular in Ireland ever since.
