Weirdest Sports You Didn’t Realize Were in the Olympics

The Olympics are an institution. So are its sports. But it hasn’t always been all volleyball and gymnastics.

Check out some of the weirder Olympic events that got cut…

Rope Climbing

While this may sound like one of those old-timey strongman events, rope climbing was part of the gymnastics competition in 1896. Competitors weren’t only marked on time, but style.

While the goal was definitely to reach the top of the 14-metre-high rope, points were allotted for style in case competitors did not reach the top, or to differentiate two competitors who did.

Both the gold and silver medalists did climb all the way to the top.

Croquet

Many of these discontinued Olympic sports were only featured once. Croquet falls into that category. It happened at the 1900 Olympics in Paris.

It does have an important distinction, though, as it was the first Olympic event in which women participated.

Literature

The Olympic medal in literature is notable for one of its entrants. Founder of the IOC, Pierre de Coubertin, won a gold medal under a pseudonym. He wrote a poem called “Ode to Sport”.

He submitted it under the names Georges Hohrod and Martin Eschbach, as if it were a joint entry from two authors.

Tandem Cycling

When you picture tandem cycling, you probably picture a couple with parasols. But it was actually a racing competition. While many of the discontinued sports featured in the early 1900s, tandem racing actually appeared in 1964.

Tandem cycling is part of the Paralympics, with a sighted pilot paired with a non-sighted rider.