Wacky Wednesday August 1st

Check out these strange former Olympic sports:


Since the modern Olympic Games kicked off in 1896, a few weird and wonderful sports have come and gone, from live bird shooting to solo synchronized swimming. Here is a glimpse at a few of the wackiest.

1. Tug of War - Dates played: from 1900 to 1920

This feat of strength worked like the classic playground game: two teams pulled a rope in opposite directions until the midpoint of the rope passed into the winning team's territory.

2. Jeu de paume - Date played: 1908

The indoor precursor of tennis, jeu de paume was only included as a medal event at the 1908 Olympic Games in London, and only two countries competed, Great Britain and the US, with the latter taking home the gold.


3. Live pigeon shooting - Date played: 1900

When Paris hosted the 1900 Olympic Games, live pigeon shooting was a key event, with Belgium's Leon de Lunden earning gold with 21 hits.

4. Long jump for horses - Date played: 1900

In this event, horses were the athletes with 17 competitors jumping for gold medal glory. Belgium's Constant van Langendonck on the horse Extra-Dry earned the top prize with a distance of 6.1 m.

5. Rope climb - Dates played: 1896, 1904, 1906, 1924, 1932

Perhaps with the CrossFit fury, good old-fashioned rope climbing may once again appear at a future Olympics. Prior to being discontinued, the rope climb marked the final event of the gymnastics competition. While typically being judged on time to reach the top, in 1896, athletes were also judged on style.

6. Solo synchronized swimming - Dates played: 1984, 1988, 1992

Before catching on to the oxymoronic nature of this sport, individual athletes performed choreographed routines to music in the water, while synchronizing their moves to the music.

7. Swimming obstacle race - Date played: 1900

For the Paris Olympics, competitors had to climb over a pole, crawl over a row of boats, then swim under another row of boats against the current of the Seine.



http://articles.nydailynews.com/2012-07-23/news/32809977_1_rope-live-pigeon-crossfit

Interesting!

solo synchronized swimming

LOL at the pigeon shooting

KZ wrote:

solo synchronized swimming

That one made me laugh too and I was surprised it had been done as recent as 1992.

DH thought #7 sounded a little dangerous.

dh is right! Lemme see if I can find something... hang on...

Live pigeon shooting, interesting.

I betting years from now they will look at some of the t hings we do now and laugh at them.

Think these were the guys who swam under the boats?? They seemingly trained a little different 100 years ago!

Hilarious!!!!

LOL!!

OK you know what they're going to wonder 100 years from now??? Ping Pong... Really??? Will Wii be next as an Olympic sport??

Seriously... Ping Pong???

Ha ha! Badmitton is another one I wonder about.

Did you see "ShuttleGate" yesterday? I think it was the Chinese team (and another, can't remember now) that were trying to lose their badminton game?

Carla wrote:

Did you see "ShuttleGate" yesterday? I think it was the Chinese team (and another, can't remember now) that were trying to lose their badminton game?

yes!! It was on the news here... what a bunch of bad sports...

Saw it here too. Did they really think no one would notice? I mean when I could play better than people who go to the Olympics, something's up.

heh heh

That photo makes me chuckle. Some events do seem silly. I remember the individual synchronized swimming. Anyone remember when curling was going to be a demonstration sport? Canada's best curler didn't look athletic enough. Kind of funny.

Shuttlegate is just silly. Why go to that level and cheat? I didn't pay much attention to the story. Were they being paid to lose?

I don't think so Gail. They were trying to lose so they'd play easier teams and make it to the finals. I think that was the deal, anyway.

I agree.. so NOT what the Olympics are all about IMO... a little humility would be nice. Gail, have you seen the stories about C____ Hughes? (her first name escapes me right now). She has multiple medalled in both winter and summer Olympics and this year trained (cycling) with a cracked vertebra (didn't tell anyone till near or after the race) and came in fifth. When they asked her how it felt to come in fifth, she just said "four girls were faster than me".... When they asked her what she wanted to be remembered as, she said "that I smiled"..

THAT is an Olympian as far as I'm concerned...

Clara Hughes is her name. Wonderful story!

oooo I almost wrote "Clara". She's also the one who came out on the Bell commercials in the past several months talking about mental health issues. As a sufferer of depression, she knows first hand what many of us deal with. I admire her.

Yes, I'm a Clara Hughes fan. I agree, she lives up to the Olympian values. I heard or read something that she's satified with her results because she knows she gave everything she had. She has no regrets. I don't have her words quite right but that was the gist of it.