Some Olympics events that were given a try in the past are no longer in the mix. An article at History.com details 5 Strange Olympic Sports You Won’t See at the 2012 London Games. The men’s 200 meter obstacle swim race never caught on and was held only once at the 1900 Paris Games.The same goes for underwater swimming. It must have been difficult for the spectators to see the competitors underwater in the Seine.
Pistol dueling (with a dummy) lost favor when dueling went out of fashion, and live pigeon shooting was just too messy. 300 birds were killed, and there were feathers all over the place. Not an appealing idea today.
There are many other events that have been dropped from the Olympics. Croquet and cricket both were dropped, mainly because there were not enough national teams to compete. Polo and lacrosse are both gone as well, although polo lasted as an Olympic sport until 1936. In track and field events, the standing high jump and the tug-of war have disappeared. Tug-of-war was played with two opposing 8-man teams. It might be fun to see today’s track and field stars take part in a tug-of-war match.
Posted by Nancy, who likes to watch gymnastics and pole vaulting.