10 weird and wonderful former Olympic sports

Jeu de paume

Dates played: 1908

Known as Real Tennis in the UK, Jeu de paume was only included as a medal event at the 1908 Olympic Games in London. Two countries competed: Great Britain and The United States, the latter winning gold.

Jeu de paume was an indoor precursor of tennis. It was originally played without a racket - players used their hands to hit the ball, for a while gloves were used before rackets were introduced in the late 1600s.

The photo, taken in 1925, shows Real Tennis players Jack Soutar (left) and Jay Gould of the USA.

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Live pigeon shooting

Dates played: 1900

In a country where an unnaturally obese bird drowned in brandy is a culinary delicacy, incorporating the killing of 300 birds into an international sporting event is really no biggie. So when Paris hosted the 1900 Olympic Games, live pigeon shooting was on the roster. Belgium's Leon de Lunden scooped gold with 21 hits. This is the only occasion animals were intentionally harmed in an Olympic event.

Pigeons were released before individual participants, the winner was whoever shot down the most birds. Participants were eliminated after two misses. The messy event resulted in a 'playing field' littered with bloody feathers and dead or injured birds... which begs the question: oiseaux violent?

The picture shows Leon de Lunden in the 1900 Olympic Games' Pigeon Shooting event.

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Long jump for horses

Dates played: 1900

In this event it was down to the horses to represent their countries... but they did have men on their backs. There were 17 competitors and gold medal went to Belgium's Constant van Langendonck on the horse Extra-Dry, with a distance of 6.10m.

We don't know how much of a long jump it was, since we're not sure horses are capable of the same hop-skip-jump used in the human version of this event. Still, the distances covered weren't particularly impressive and it's no surprise it was promptly scratched off the Olympic roster.

We couldn't find any photos of the long jump for horses so here's how we think it should have looked (we decided it was funnier if the horse jumped alone.)

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Rope climb

Dates played: 1896, 1904, 1906, 1924, 1932

The rope climb debuted at the first modern Olympics in 1986, where just two men - both from Greece - made it to the top of the rope: Nikolaos Andriakopoulos (Gold) and Thomas Xenakis. The rope climb marked the final event of the gymnastics competition.

Starting from a seated position on the floor, competitors shimmied up a rope (which measured 14 metres at the 1896 games, but varied at later events - on some occasions it was just seven metres.) Competitors were judged on time taken to reach the top. However, in the 1896 games they were also judged on style.

The photos show a competitor practicing the rope climb ahead of the 1896 event (left) and a portrait of that year's Gold medalist, Nikolaos Andriakopoulos.

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Roque

Dates played: 1904

Roque was included in the 1904 Olympic programme at St Louis, USA. Just one nation, the United States, competed in the event.

Roque is an American varient of croquet, played on a hard sand or clay court. Roque mallets are slightly shorter than those used in croquet and the court is bordered with bevelled curbs off which players may rebound balls. The game, optimistically dubbed 'the Game of the Century' by enthusiasts, was popular for the first quarter of the 20th century.

The photo shows a game of Roque, circa 1930.

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Water motor sports

Dates played: 1908

Water motor sports, or motor boating, featured just once as an olympic event, although it was also a demonstration sport at the 1900 games. A gale was blowing throughout the competition, because of the bad weather conditions each event was completed by one team only. There were three races: Class A - an open event, Class B - under 60 ft, Class C - 6.5 - 8 metres. France won gold in Class A, Great Britain won Gold in Class B and Class C. No Silver or Bronze medals were awarded.

Shortly after the 1908 London games the International Olympic Committee decided motorised competition was not suitable for the Olympic Games.

The picture shows the Wolseley-Siddely, skippered by the Duke of Westminster, in heavy weather at the 1908 Olympic event.

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Solo synchronised swimming

Dates played: 1984, 1988, 1992

This oxymoronic event took place at three Olympic Games before someone realised it didn't make any sense. Interestingly, in each of the sport's three years, the medallists were from the USA, Canada and Japan.

Essentially, individual competitors performed choreographed routines to music, in the water. The 'synchronised' element is that the movements were in time to the music - y'know, like how when you sing along to a song it's synchronised singing, or how every Friday night you go sychronised dancing... hmmm...

The photo, taken at the 1992 Barcelona games, shows Sylvia Frechette of Canada's silver medal solo synchronised swimming performance.

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Swimming obstacle race

Dates played: 1900

This sounds like the kind of game you would try to play as a child, only to be told by your mum that it's 'too dangerous.' The Gold medal went to Frederick Lane of Australia, whose winning time of 2:38.4 was only 13 seconds slower than his time without things in the way. Impressive.

In this event, competitors had to climb over a pole, scramble over a row of boats, then swim under another row of boats... against the current of Paris's Seine river! Bonkers but thrilling. Bring it back, we say!

The photo shows Frederick Lane climbing out of the river after competing in the 1900 Paris Olympics' swimming obstacle race.

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Club swinging

Dates played: 1904 and 1932

This event was a precursor to the Olympic Rhythmic Gymnastics discipline in which competitors use apparatus such as the rope, hoop, ball, ribbon and clubs. On both dates this event occured at the Olympics the USA won Gold, Silver and Bronze. Club swinging is currently enjoying a resurgence in popularity as a training exercise so perhaps now is the time to petition for its return?

Club Swinging involves the competitor standing with a club - much like those used in juggling - in each hand. Unlike juggling, the clubs do not leave the hands. The clubs are swung around the body and head is a complex, and potentially dangerous, routine. Judges award points based on the routine. Some reports suggest the clubs in the 1904 event were decorated with colorful streamers (the 1932 event was called Indian Clubs.)

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