Horse racing, live pigeon shooting... a list of the weird Olympic sports that have disappeared

In 2024, we are cheering for more than 300 events in the Paris Summer Olympics. However, when time goes back to 776 BC, the first Olympic Games held by the Greeks, there was only one event on the field: a track race with a distance of 192.27 meters. The Olympic Games originated from the ancient Greeks' tribute to the gods, and it was opened to the world in the 19th century. Human beings strive for faster, higher, stronger, and for the pursuit of excellence and unity, constantly challenging the limits. Successive Olympic Committees have made continuous adjustments to the competition events. In addition to the traditional events that have been retained, many events have returned to silence after their initial inspiration.

Today, let us commemorate

Those events that disappeared in time

Salute to the competitive spirit of continuous progress and daring to challenge

PART .0 1 Four-horse chariot : as exciting as Formula One car race ?

If an ancient Greek athlete were to come to the 2024 Paris Olympics, he might be amazed: How can an athlete wear clothes? Ancient Greek athletes could not wear clothes when competing. They shaved their body hair, applied olive oil, and competed naked.

The Greeks divided the competition into two categories: one was nude competition; the other was equestrianism , including horse racing and chariot racing.

The chariot race opened the Games, with the chariots running 12 laps over 13 kilometers . The race was long and arduous, but the most exciting. It was like today's Formula One car race - the audience's adrenaline surged with the speed of the car, and the drivers drove the expensive vehicles with superb skills. This aristocratic competition ended with the end of the ancient Olympic Games.

Athenian black-painted vase from the late 6th century BC

The bottle is painted with horse racing scenes

PART.02 Rope climbing: Scoring makes judges "eye-sore"

Rope Climbing was selected as an Olympic event four times from 1896 to 1932. The rope used in the competition is 15 meters long. The rules are that the athletes hold the rope with both hands, and after hearing the start signal, they climb up with only their hands. The athlete who climbs to the top of the rope the fastest wins.

This competition requires extremely high upper body strength of athletes, but it also requires even more vision from the judges . At the 1924 Paris Olympics, 22 athletes scored full marks at the same time. Even with detailed scoring criteria for rope climbing posture, speed, height, etc., it was still difficult for the judges to distinguish among so many full-mark athletes. This competition was cancelled after the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics.

Athletes are participating in the rope climbing competition

PART.03 Tug of War: Who wins?

Tug of war was included in the Olympic Games five times from 1900 to 1920. It first appeared in the 1900 Paris Olympics . In 1908, the Olympics allowed countries to form teams of eight players for the first time. The first team to pull the opponent out 6 feet (about 1.8 meters) wins. If the two sides are evenly matched within the specified time, the referee will extend the game time by 5 minutes and then declare the team that pulls the longer distance the winner.

However, tug-of-war caused great controversy, and the organizing committee was unable to give more precise judging criteria for this event. It was no longer included in the competition after the 1920 Antwerp Olympics.

PART.04 One-handed weightlifting: “One-armed” strongman PK competition

One-handed weightlifting was an important event in weightlifting competitions from 1896 to 1906. At the 1920 Antwerp Olympics, the weightlifting competition system was changed. The competition was divided into five levels according to the weight of the athletes, and the events were changed to one-handed snatch, clean and jerk, and two-handed clean and jerk. In the 1924 Paris Olympics, the weightlifting competition was changed to one-handed snatch, clean and jerk, and two-handed push, snatch, and clean and jerk, a total of five events.

Because one-handed weightlifting can easily cause damage to the athlete's lumbar spine, and it is difficult for referees to grasp the judging standards, one-handed weightlifting was cancelled at the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics and the three forms of two-handed weightlifting were retained.

PART.05 Diving and scuba diving: a combination of diving and swimming?

The rules of diving and diving require that after athletes jump into the water, they are not allowed to use their limbs to paddle, and can only rely on the inertia of the power when entering the water to dive. Whoever dives the farthest distance within 60 seconds will win the championship.

The difficulty lies in that the referee cannot judge whether the athlete has violated the rules during the competition, and diving requires athletes to be in a state of hypoxia for a long time, and long-term practice of diving is harmful to the body. This event was cancelled after its debut in the 1904 St. Louis Olympics.

PART.06 One-time competition items

In 1900, the 20th century began. Paris became the host city of the Olympic Games and the World Expo. In order to cater to the audiences of both events, this Olympic Games had a wide variety of events. The entire event lasted for more than five months . It was known as a "marathon-style sports meeting" and was also the Olympic Games with the most "one-off events": live pigeon shooting. Live pigeons were used as shooting targets, and more than 300 pigeons were shot on the spot. This event appeared in the Olympic Games for the first time and also the last time.

It seems incredible now that hot air balloon and kite flying are included in the Olympic Games. Because there are too many uncontrollable factors in the competition process, these two sports were cancelled after participating in this session.

Some of these cancelled events were out of touch with the times, and some were cancelled due to historical conditions. However, everyone involved, athletes, referees, staff and spectators...what made them devote themselves to the same Olympic spirit.

References:

1. Olympia by Robin Waterfield

2. The Story of Science by Wu Guosheng

3. The Temperature of History by Zhang Wei

3. Official website of the Chinese Olympic Committee

Author: Xiao Qing, former editor of Global Exploration magazine

Qu Qu is a member of the Chinese Science Writers Association and a member of the Chinese Society for the History of Science and Technology.

Review expert: Song Yuanming

Associate Professor, Institute of History of Science and Cultural Heritage, and Deputy Director of Institute of Science, Technology and Culture, University of Science and Technology Beijing

Editor: Dong Xiaoxian