The biggest sporting spectacle is just about 50 days away from now and Rio de Janeiro is getting dressed in its brightest colours for the quadrennial event. After its inception in 1896, the Olympics have continuously grown and expanded and as a result, 120 years after the first edition, which saw 43 events in 9 sports, spectators around the world will witness athletes competing in 306 events in 28 sports in 2016.
However, despite being the grandest stage for sporting events, the Olympics has had its share of staging weird games and events throughout its history. Thankfully, most of these sports have been discontinued for good. Yet, it is never a bad time to look back at those sports and just imagine how weird it must have been to have them in Rio 2016.
1. Standing High Jump
The name explains it all. The event required the athlete to stand still and jump with both feet together. No matter how funny it seems to imagine, the event was staged thrice from 1900 to 1912.
Ray Ewry of USA jumped a record 1.65 metre in the 1900 Olympics. He was also highly successful in the standing long jump and the standing triple jump. Although discontinued from Olympics, the sport is still famous in the Scandinavian countries.
2. Pigeon Shooting
A bloody event for sure! This event fluttered quite a few feathers. Literally. Birds were released and competitors had to shoot as many as they could. Once the shooters fired two blank shots, he was eliminated.
The bloody mess that the event left behind was a major factor for its discontinuation. So, 1900 Olympics remain the only such edition which saw pigeon shooting. Belgian Leon de Lunden won the gold medal with 21 downed birds. A total of 300 birds were killed during the event.
3. Rope Climbing
The Olympics saw Rope Climbing competitions being staged from 1896 to 1932. In the first Olympics ever held, Rope Climbing was an even tougher proposition. The competitors were ranked by both time and style on a 15m long rope.
However, from the next Olympics onwards, the participants were ranked only on time taken to reach the top of the rope. For as long as it was there, it was a part of the Gymnastics events.
The sport has seen a revival of sorts in some European nations, but a comeback to the Olympics looks impossible as of now.
4. Swimming Obstacle Course
A combination of a swimming event and an obstacle race, the event required the athletes to scramble over a row of boats, and then swim under another row of boats in the River Seine. This event was staged just once in the 1900 Olympics and was discontinued.
But it is quite possible that the creator of our childhood favorite show Takeshi’s Castle got his idea of the show from this event. Australian Fred Lane took home the gold.
5. Tug of War
One of the oldest sports that dates back to 8th century, Tug of War made its appearance in every Olympics from 1900 to 1920. The event was contested by clubs and a country could send more clubs than one in the competition. So a country could win multiple medals if clubs from the same country faced off in finals.
Strangely, Tug of War was part of Olympics athletics programme. Teams consisted of 6 members in 1900, 5 members in 1904, and 8 members from 1908 to 1920. Great Britain won 2 Golds, 2 Silvers and a bronze to emerge the most prolific in Tug of War.
