Remember those days of yesteryear when neighborhood kids who dreamed of going to the Olympics prepared by going out in the field and playing a game of … tug-of-war?
Kids from the early 20th Century remember. Tug-of-war was on the Olympic program five times from 1900 to 1920, and it produced one of the biggest controversies of the early modern Games. That came in 1908 when the Liverpool Police, one of three police squads to earn medals for Britain, yanked the Yanks from the U.S. over the line in mere seconds.
The U.S. team protested that the lads from Liverpool had steel cleats and spikes on their boots. The protest was denied, so the Americans withdrew from the competition.
Twelve years later, tug-of-war was gone for good.
Though the Olympics have become identified with certain iconic sports–such as track and field, swimming and gymnastics–the reality is that the Games are a movable feast with a constantly changing lineup.
Sports come, sports go. Some do both in the same year.
Cricket, for example, was played in the 1900 Olympics in Paris. Britain beat France in the final. They were the only teams in the field.
Why was cricket killed? An account in a French magazine at the time might provide a clue: “Cricket is … a sport which appears to be monotonous and without color to the uninitiated.”
Sore losers, a British newspaper fired back: “The French temperament is too excitable to enjoy the game, and no Frenchman can be persuaded to play more than once.”
Croquet was played only once, also in 1900 in Paris. The sport reportedly drew one paying spectator. Not good, even for an International Olympic Committee not yet obsessed with money.
The Official Report of the Paris Games noted: “This game … has hardly any pretensions to athleticism.” But it held out hope that croquet could “transform young girls into reasoners and from reasoners into reasonable people.”
Later we invented charm school.
Events that have disappeared are a veritable cornucopia of esoterica. The 100-meter freestyle for sailors (and only sailors) was held in 1896 in Athens. The Olympics of 1900 gave us a swimming event called the 200-meter obstacle course–participants climbed over a pole, scrambled over a row of boats and swam under another row of boats.
That was the same year Raymond Ewry of Indiana captured the stationary triple crown by sweeping the standing long jump, standing high jump and standing triple jump.
Rope climbing for men, a gymnastics event, consisted of climbing a vertical rope. The rope was 45 feet 11 inches high in 1896 but shrank to 26 feet 3 inches in 1932 before disappearing altogether.
Some sports defied logic, like synchronized swimming solo.
Sports die for all sorts of reasons: 17-man naval rowing boats, dueling pistols, running deer shooting and an archery event called 1920 Antwerp Pole, Small Birds and Large Birds Division.
So what’s next? An IOC subcommittee for Olympic programs recently recommended baseball, softball and modern pentathlon for termination, but each successfully fought for its life–for now, anyway. They’ll be in Beijing in 2008.
Should any be axed down the road, the sports most often mentioned as replacements include bowling, rugby and golf.
Plenty of others wait in the wings. To be considered, a sport must be recognized by the IOC as a sport, which means it has to have an international governing body, be played on four continents, conduct world championships and sign the anti-doping code.
Among the “sports” that fill that bill are bridge, chess, orienteering, billiards, bandy, surfing, korfball, life-saving, sumo and, yes, tug-of-war.
Time to dream, boys and girls.
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Olympics lineup ever-changing
The list of Olympic events has undergone numerous makeovers in more than a century of competition. Below are the sports that have had the most events discontinued, with a few examples.
DISCONTINUED OLYMPIC EVENTS BY SPORT
In Olympic parlance, sports are made up of various events. For example, high jump is an event within the sport track and field.
SPORT, EVENTS DISCONTINUED
– EVENT EXAMPLES (With years on Olympic program)
Track and field, 27
– Javelin, freestyle (1908): Competitors were allowed to grip the javelin however they pleased, although most held it in the middle as in the regular javelin competition.
Sailing, 21
Shooting, 18
– Dueling pistols, team (1912): Participants shot at dummies, with a bull’s-eye being the middle of the throat.
Cycling,, 17
Gymnastics, 11
– Rope climbing (1896, 1904, 1924, 1932): At the first Olympics the rope was nearly 46 feet high and only two climbers made it to the top in this timed competition. In later years it was lowered.
Aquatics (water sports), 10
– Plunge for distance (1904): Competitors would dive into the water and remain motionless for one minute or until their heads emerged. The winning diver plunged to a depth of 62 feet 6 inches.
Canoeing, 7
Archery, 6
Equestrian, 6
– Long jump (1900): The winning horse leaped 20 feet, 1/4 inch.
Fencing, 6
Rowing, 6
Wrestling, 6
Weightlifting, 2
Boxing, 1
Judo, 1
Modern pentathlon, 1
Tennis, 1
Total: 147
DISCONTINUED OLYMPIC SPORTS (With years on Olympic program)
– Cricket (1900)
– Croquet (1900)
– Golf (1900-04)
– Jeu de Paume: A form of tennis (1908)
– Lacrosse (1904-08)
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– Motor boating (1908)
– Pelota Basque: Similar to handball and racketball (1900)
– Polo (1900, 1908, 1920-24, 1936)
– Rackets: A form of squash (1908)
– Rugby (1900, 1908, 1920-24)
– Tug-of-war (1900-20)
Source: “The Complete Book of the Summer Olympics” by David Wallechinsky
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