Special Sub-Topic: Discontinued Olympic Events Authored by: stedman Sub-topic of: Olympics History

In the 1908 London Olympics, Jay Gould of the USA won the first (and to date only) Olympic Gold medal awarded for “Jeu de Paume”. By what name is this sport better known in English-speaking countries?

Real Tennis. Great Britain – the only other nation to compete – won the Silver and Bronze medals. Although only ever an official sport in 1908, Jau de Paume was also a demonstration sport in 1924 (Paris).

In the 1900 Paris Olympics, Great Britain won a Gold medal at Cricket; the only year it was an Olympic event. Which nation were the losing finalists?

France. Yes, honestly, it was France. In fact, most of the French team were English employees at the British Embassy in Paris, who were doubtless glad to have a day off work. No other nations competed, so only one two-innings match was played, which Great Britain – actually a touring team from Devon and Somerset Wanderers Cricket Club - won by 158 runs.

In the 1908 London Olympic Games, the finalists in this event were two 8-man teams of British policemen, from London (who took Gold) and Liverpool (Silver). A third team of British police took the Bronze medal by default, when their Swedish opponents didn’t bother to turn up for the match. What now discontinued sport was this?

Tug-of-War. The Tug of War, a version of which was part of the Ancient Greek Games, was competed for on five occasions, between 1900 and 1920. Although a team game, there was no limit to the number of national teams that could enter – hence the British clean sweep in 1908.

The Olympic Rope Climb was competed for on five occasions between 1896 and 1932, competitors being timed on the speed with which they ascended a free-hanging rope. But in the 1896 Athens Games, why did only two competitors reach the top of the 14-metre rope?

The rope was too long for most competitors. Two Greek athletes - Nikolaos Andriakopoulos and Thomas Xenakis – took Gold and Silver, being the only two competitors to reach the top of the rope. In 1904, 1924 and 1932 (the only other occasions on which the Rope Climb was included in the Olympic Games), a shorter rope was used.

In the 1900 Paris Olympic Games, the Belgian Constant van Langendonck won a Gold medal for a variety of long-jump, jumping 6.10 metres. What was unusual about this (now discontinued) event?

Competitors jumped on horseback. The Equestrian long-jump only appeared in the 1900 Olympic Games. For comparison, in the same year, the human-only long jump winner, Meyer Prinstein of the USA, jumped 7.175 metres.

In the 1900 Paris Olympics, why did Frederick Lane of Australia have to climb over a pole and a row of boats, and swim under another row of boats?

He was taking part in the "Obstacle Race – Swimming" event. Frederick Lane won the Gold medal in the “Obstacle Race – Swimming”, which made its only appearance in the 1900 Paris Games. He also won Gold in the 200 metres freestyle swimming event in the same year.

This sport, popular today among members of the British royal family, made intermittent appearances on the Olympic programme during the early part of the 20th Century, appearing on five occasions between 1900 and 1936. Great Britain won the Gold medal on the first three occasions, and Argentina on the other two.

Polo. Polo featured on the Olympic programme in 1900 (Paris), 1908 (London), 1920 (Antwerp), 1924 (Paris) and 1936 (Berlin). In 1900, some of the teams contained players from more than one nation - the victorious British team actually contained two American players.

In the Men’s Standing High Jump event at the 1912 (Stockholm) Olympic Games, Platt Adams (USA), Benjamin Adams (USA) and Konstantinos Tsiklitiras (Greece) took Gold, Silver and Bronze respectively. In which other event that year did they also share the three medal positions (but in a different order)?

Men’s Standing Long Jump. Standing Jumps (whether measured vertically or horizontally) evidently required similar abilities! In the Long Jump, Tsiklitiras took the Gold, with Platt and his brother Benjamin Adams in the Silver and Bronze positions. Both the Standing Jumps were discontinued after 1912.

Not all discontinued sports appeared only in the earliest Olympic Games. This individual event was featured in three Games in 1984 (Los Angeles), 1988 (Seoul) and 1992 (Barcelona), during which period the USA, Canada and Japan were the only countries to win medals.

Solo Synchronised Swimming. Many were the jokes cracked about how a solo swimmer could hardly be synchronised with anyone else. Explanations along the lines that the individual is synchronising their movements with the accompanying music failed to prevent this event from sinking without trace after only three Olympic appearances. In 1996, a team event replaced the solo. Incidentally, Underwater Swimming was an actual event in the 1900 Games: as at 2007, the other two options have yet to feature as Olympic sports.

In the Live Pigeon Shooting event at the 1900 Olympic Games, how many pigeons did the Belgian Leon de Lunden successfully slaughter in order to win the Gold medal?

21. France’s Maurice Faure took Silver with 20 birds, with the American Crittenden Robinson and the Australian Donald MacKintosh tying for third place, with 18 each. 52 shooters are believed to have taken part, with some 300 birds in total coming to grief. Although the event took place under the umbrella of the 1900 Olympic Games, this sport is not included in the official International Olympic Committee results – perhaps more due to subsequent embarrassment at the nature of the event than doubts as to the quality of the performances. Rumours that this event will be re-introduced for the 2012 London games, and will take place in Trafalgar Square, are probably untrue. Pedantic Note: in the 1896 and 1900 Games, Gold medals were not actually awarded. The winners of each event were awarded Silver medals, with runners-up receiving Bronze. Gold, Silver and Bronze “medals” have been retrospectively allocated by the International Olympic Committee to those in 1st, 2nd and 3rd place in each event, thus bringing the medals into line with current practice. Thanks to www.topendsports.com for providing me with the inspiration, and much background information, for this quiz.