In each olympiad , the International Olympic Committee, studies the sports that will participate in the event and adds or suppresses some. Also for years you can see in each edition different disciplines called "exhibition". Sports have varied greatly since the first Modern Olympics of 1896 in Athens to the present. Join us to discover 5 Curious sports that were once Olympic. Did you know?
5 Curious sports that were once Olympic
1. Long jump in pool
In English they called it " plunge for distance " and could be considered a test between diving and diving. Of course it is not a swimming test since it was precisely not swimming. It was included in the program of jumps of the Olympic Games of San Luis, Missouri, of the year 1904 for the first and last time.
The athlete had to dive in the water and without it moving a muscle, the distance that the jumper walked with the initial impulse of the diving jump was measured. The test lasted a maximum of 60 seconds or until the athlete emerged to breathe.
2. Game of the Noose
The popular "game of the rope" or "tug of war", in English "Tug of war", is another one of those curious sports that were once Olympic . It was between 1900 and 1920.
In the 1904 edition in San Luis, the USA they presented three teams and won the three medals. Since 1920 it has not been Olympic, but the international federation, the TWIF, organizes competitions every two years, both abroad and in the interior.
3. Pigeon shooting or pigeon shooting
Shooting or propeller shooting was present in the summer Olympics since 1896. However, in the edition held in Paris in 1900, the pigeon shooting mode was included, that is, real pigeons were released for the athletes to shoot at them.
Only one edition lasted, more than 300 pigeons were killed and the Olympic Committee decided that there would be no more live animals in the competitions. The following Olympics in London they included a method of shooting to deer, but these were cardboard.
4. Croquet
The fourth of these curious sports that came to be in an Olympics It's the croquet. This aristocratic game consisting of passing some wooden balls for a tour of metal rings was Olympic in Paris in the year 1900. It did not repeat in the successive Olympics, it is not known if because only French athletes were registered or that apparently they were sold Very few tickets to see the exhibition.
In general, the opinion is that it was really ruled out because the Olympic Committee thought it was not an athletic sport, but simply a game.
5. Long jump on horseback
We return again to the Olympics in Paris in 1900. Among the equestrian events the long jump on horseback was introduced. The winner was Constant van Langendonck from Belgium riding the Extra Dry horse. He managed to jump 6'10 meters. The sport was ruled out by its little interest since a human gets to jump much more than a horse. Currently the world record is at 8'95 meters.
Did you know that all these curious sports had been Olympic ever ? Do you know any other? Share it with us! If you are interested in sports, we invite you to read the post: Abebe Bikila, the Ethiopian who won a barefoot marathon.
Image: Bart Derksen