Sports That Used To Be Part of the Olympics

The Olympic Games consists of several international sporting events that are divided by summer and winter sports. Athletes from across the globe participate in multiple competitions during the tournament, which is held once every four years. There have been several changes within the Olympic Games since it was first introduced in Greece, including the removal of individual sports. To give you an idea of the games that used to be part of the Olympic Games, we compiled a list below:

Duelling Pistols

Pistol duelling was first introduced at the Olympic Games in Athens, Greece during 1906. However, this sporting event did not feature two participants duelling against each other. Instead, a participant had to shoot plastic dummies that were placed 30 meters away swearing frocks.

Distance Plunging

This sporting event formed part of the St. Louis Olympic Games back in 1904. Those that participated in distance plunging had to jump into a pool while standing and glide underwater without the assistance of paddling. The participant that managed to cover the longest distance underwater before coming up for air was declared the winner. America was the only country that ever participated in this sporting event.

Live Pigeon Shooting

This sporting event was first introduced during the Olympic Games in Paris back in 1900. Participants had to shoot live pigeons with guns. When live pigeons were released, participants had to aim before killing their moving targets carefully. Approximately 300 pigeons were shot on a single day.

Tug of War

This sporting event also formed part of the Olympic Games in Paris back in 1900 and managed to stay a popular sporting event for the next two decades before it was removed from the tournament in 1920. The sporting event required two teams to stand on either side of a thick rope. The teams had to pull on the line until the opposing team was dragged 6 feet towards their opponents before being declared winners. The two teams also had to achieve the distance within an allocated time. If the range isn’t met, five additional minutes were added.

Rope Climb

This sporting event formed part of the Olympic Games in Athens, Greece, back in 1896. Participants had to climb a rope and were judged on their technique and speed. The sporting event also formed part of the Los Angeles Olympic Games back in 1932, but participants were only judged on their momentum as opposed to their technique.

Croquet

This sporting event formed part of the Olympic Games in Paris back in 1900, and all participants hailed from France. Looking back, it seemed like only one ticket was sold to view this sporting event, which is why it never become a popular sport in the Olympics.

Roque

This sporting event can be seen as the American edition of croquet, and as you can imagine, the only participants in this sporting event were Americans. The sport made its debut in 1904 and was the single Olympics it was ever featured in.