Strangest And Oldest Olympic Sports Ever

Thousands of talented men and women participated in the Olympic Games over the past 127 years. However, there were sports in the history of the modern Olympics that are difficult to understand today. From bizarre to traditional sports, and everything in between! We listed the strangest and oldest Olympic sports ever!

Tug of War

Tug-of-war was an integral part of the ancient Olympics, so it is understandable that the Summer Games, revived in 1896, included this sport in the program. The rules were very simple! Each team consisted of eight people whose job was to pull the rope at least 180 centimeters from the center. If both teams succeed, the one that pulled the rope farther in 5 minutes wins.

This spectacular sport was part of the Olympics for twenty years until 1920. Of course, fortunately, they documented everything, and according to the online gambling sites in Greece, the British were dominant. The most successful countries were Belgium, the USA, Sweden, the Netherlands, Italy, and Greece. 

Strangest and Oldest Olympic Sports Ever

A less well-known but popular with the French and the British, croquet is a garden pastime activity, the essence of which is that the contestants use a wooden mallet to pass 6-10 small gates with a wooden ball in a given order on smooth terrain with as few hits as possible. Croquet was an Olympic number only once, in 1900. Even then, only because the growing voices of emancipation demanded a place for women in the Olympics. 

So, croquet seemed like a decent sport that they could play in long skirts without showing ankles. Mostly English, American, Swiss, and French ladies played. As you know, women, in general, could not really get to the Olympics at that time, but there was national discrimination as well. Here you can read about the perception and progression of female athletes in the Olympics.

Live Pigeon Shooting

As one of the strangest and oldest Olympic sports ever, this event also appeared only once, at the 1900 Paris Olympics. The aim was to shoot as many birds as possible during the event. Even though it was an aristocratic activity, it caused a huge outrage even then. The Olympic Committee learned from the incident, and since then, no animal has ever been endangered during the modern Olympics. 

Strangest and Oldest Olympic Sports Ever

Steeplechase still exists among athletic events, but today, the competitors cover the 3,000-meter distance on a sports track on foot. However, at the turn of the century, it was an equestrian number where men rode horses, during which they had to complete obstacle courses, including jumping fences and ditches between two cities.

At that time, the equestrian competitors were accompanied everywhere by a large group of fans, and the horse steeplechase was a real spectacle in which Ireland was the biggest star. The sport itself originates from there. Horse races have been one of the oldest Olympic numbers.

Club Swinging

Many people believe that there were times when juggling was also an Olympic event, but this is not true. However, there was a sport that was close to it, and many people mix them up even today. In the process, the athletes threw the so-called clubs, similar to bowling pins around, to music for scores. Actually, the sport is the ancestor of rhythmic gymnastics, which was, surprisingly, the privilege of men at the time. This sport appeared at the Olympics twice in total, in 1904 and 1932, and the US won six medals.

Strangest and Oldest Olympic Sports Ever

Displays of power have been part of our everyday lives as long as humans have walked this planet. However, its popularity increased until people wanted to see shows, and the audience of the 19th century loved weightlifters! In addition to the clowns and the various artists, spectators could always see the world’s strongest men in the circuses.

Therefore, it is understandable that one-handed weightlifting was a separate event at the first Olympics, which was actually the forerunner of today’s weightlifting competitions. The competitor had to lift and swing the weight three times with both hands separately, at least, that was the goal at the time. They had a massive fan base because women often melted into a puddle after seeing their strength and muscles.

Rope Climbing

It’s hard to guess what the Olympic Committee was thinking when it chose rope climbing as an Olympic event. Be that as it may, the organizers included rope climbing in the program between 1896 and 1932, and even then, it evoked the atmosphere of childhood physical education classes.

Based on this decision, any other PE class sport could have become part of the Olympic program. The US and Greece were the most successful nations in this number.

Oldest Olympic Sports Ever

Among the oldest Olympic sports ever, athletics has a top spot. The word athletics comes from the ancient Greek term Athlon, which means a fight for a prize. It was already one of the main events at the ancient Greek Olympics. Probably everyone was afraid of the discus and javelin-throwing Greek Gods and their statues, so it was an honor to learn these sports back then.

When they organized the first Olympic event in 776 BC, the running event took place at a roughly 170-190 meters long track. Athletic competitions in the XIX became popular again after the first official race in Oxford in 1850.

The organization of the modern Olympics made it possible for athletics to evolve into one of the most successful and watched events. Athletics have grown into the most important races as the stadiums fill up, and millions of people follow the events each time. This sport includes the most events. Basically, we can divide the individual branches into five categories.

The races include sprints, sprint relays, middle and long distances, hurdles, steeplechases, walks, marathons, jumps, throws, decathlon, and heptathlon. Walking races are 10 and 20 kilometers for women and 20 and 50 kilometers for men. The throwing events include the shot put, the javelin, the hammer, and the discus throw.

Did You Know?

In running events, judges disqualify competitors after a false start since 2010. Before this new rule, only the second false start meant exclusion. In sprints, hurdles, and relays, leaving the pre-assigned running lane also means disqualification.

Did you know that the wind plays a role in the 100 and 200-meter running races? If the wind reaches two meters per second, the time results do not count. In all running events, the judges look at the upper body when the runners cross the finish line. Only the part between the neck and hips counts, not the head, arms, legs, or feet.

Steeplechase got its name from organizing the first races between two churches in two villages. Another fun fact is that it is forbidden to somersault during long lumps. In the shot put, the ball weighs 7,2 kilos for men and 4 for women. At the 1948 London Games, Guinn Smith was the last pole vault athlete who used a bamboo pole and won a gold medal.

The American Ray Ewry won ten gold medals between 1900 and 1908 after spending most of his childhood in a wheelchair due to polio. They named the marathon race in honor of the ancient Greek messenger, Pheidippides, who ran from the battlefield from Marathon to Athens to bring the news of victory in 490 BC.

Olympic Dueling 

One of the strangest and oldest Olympic sports ever was Olympic dueling. Fortunately, the reality was much better than it sounds at first.

The competitors were not shooting at each other but at a plastic dummy, but the fact is that they used a real pistol. This strange sport appeared twice in the Olympics: the 1906 Athens Interim, also called the Panhellenic, unofficial Jubilee Olympics in Athens and the 1908 Summer Olympic Games in London. After that, the duel itself ceased to exist as a legal form of conflict resolution, so its sports version no longer had the right to exist either.

Motorboating

As the achievements of the industrial revolution slowly reached the entire world, interest in technological innovations grew immensely. In 1900, they only held a motorboat show, but in 1908, motorboating was already a separate event. Two boats competed in each of the three events, but only one reached the finish line each time.

According to online gambling sites in Greece, they had to complete a total of five laps on the eight nautical miles, about the 14-kilometer-long track. Of course, it soon became clear that success does not depend so much on the preparation and determination of the competitor but rather on the technical apparatus and financial base behind it, which is why powerboating completely disappeared from the Olympics.

Oldest Olympic Sports Ever – La Canne

Fencing and swordplay are among the oldest sports and activities. It is no coincidence that the name of the sport is French, as it is a kind of local delicacy that appeared only at the 1924 Paris Olympics and then quickly sank into oblivion. The French term Canne de Combat means cane fighting, and this was the essence of the sport: fencing with a cane. Olympic fans may now find grown men jabbing each other with sticks somewhat comical, but back then, La Canne was a serious sport, and today it is considered a branch of the national martial art.

Solo Synchronized Swimming

Although the majority of people know little about the practice of synchronized swimming, the solo part might sound strange even to them. It is clear that ballet and gymnastics are also part of the formula, so it is considered a spectacular sport that still brings many people to the screen today. Pair and group synchronized swimming are still in the Olympic program nowadays, but the solo version of the sport was quite different.

There was only one swimmer in the pool, who practically synchronized the movements to the music. The sport was introduced in 1984, but the last champion in solo synchronized swimming was awarded in 1992. Four years later, in 1996, it was only possible to compete in the team category, but at the 2000 Olympic Games, pairs competitions were allowed again. You can check out the whole list of Olympic sports today at Bet365 Sportsbook and our article about breakdancing and the other new Olympic sports!

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