The Economist published a list of discontinued Olympic sports since the games of 1896. While this year we can count on such sports as Synchronized Diving, Beach Volleyball, and Water Polo, other events have come and gone.
What many of these discontinued events have in common, and I’m only half-applying the “sarc tag,” is their nod to basic skills of the past. Skills that might come in handy for us again?
I don’t know what Underwater Swimming entails, but I think I’d like to see that come back, along with Running-Deer shooting and especially Tug-of-War.
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It would seem that only gold medals for the winning team in the dueling pistols competition would be needed. Or were the other medals awarded posthumously to the families of the losers?
They also discontinued baseball. How do you cancel baseball and keep badminton?
Well, I can see why there was no repeat of the Duelling Pistol event – only the winners survived 😉
Makes it easier to figure out who gets the medal, though.
“Dueling pistols” was bound to run out of active participants eventually…just sayin’
Scores of children would die trying to emulate a gold medal winning underwater swimmer.
I would love to see a revival of Tug of war too.
Single stick is cool. Did that in high school (weird PE teacher). It’s basically fencing with broomsticks.
Tug of war might turn out like basketball, a US walkover most years. Think of all the NFL linemen who might participate.
http://i1.cdnds.net/12/30/618×442/showbiz_michelle_obama_2_1.jpg
just sayin’
Anchor tugger, there.
I hear that she tore the heck out of that John Deere attached to the other end of the rope.
Why don’t they add jello wrestling? The games need a little humor.
It fits right in with beach volley ball.
And motorboating. That sounds like a fun team event.
Motorboating? Hellz Yeah!!
Trust me, Ukraine, Poland, Russia and the Czech Republic would rule that event. Germany might place. I’d love to the be the dude on the team. I’d pay my own way, too.
What? Oh. Motorboating with powered water craft? No, that’s dumb. I misunderstood.
Sorry.
Clotho, Lachesis, & Atropos have deprived me of the power, but if Zeus were to overrule them and let me decide, then in my wisdom I would eliminate every single “sport” that requires a judgment call, or series of judgment calls, in terms of scoring. So, yes, that highly popular event, the one that brings in huge audiences and huge ratings, Ladies Figure Skating, goes out the door. Along with gymnastics, synchronized swimming, diving, and whole lot of other just plain stupid “sports.”
Understand me please. Least of all I am NOT suggesting that the people engaged in the to-be-stricken sports are not athletes. To the contrary, these people are gifted, dedicated and in many cases beautiful to watch. But they have engaged themselves in endeavors that cannot be measured objectively.
Only those sports where points are put up on the board, sports measured by the clock or by a tape measure, sports which use an objective measure in developing scoring, should be allowed. That would eliminate so much squabbling.
And probably end the Games as well. Which, given the celebration of socialism that the Games have become, would be in and of itself a good thing. (Yes, that was a judgment call.)
Get rid of anything involving horses too.
Dueling pistol, team — must return!
What about tossing the caber?
Now that’s a sport!
They can come to my neighborhood fo running deer shooting, practice rounds included.
It would be very unfair to most to bring back “Club Swinging” as an Olympic sport, since union goons and New Black Panther thugs would have a major advantage in training over everyone else.
“Club Swinging”… would that be based on the “Night at the Roxbury” SNL skits?
Include NHL 2010 and all of a sudden I’m an Olympian.
Can we have a special guest team for dueling pistols made up of politicians and celebrities? Yes, that was poorly considered, but a gal can fantasize about a bit of natural selection among the ego class.
The Hamilton-Burr Memorial Turkey Shoot?
Motorboating? Say what?
Oh, nevermind.
Just in case you were serious, the underwater swimming was for distance. Swimmer who went the furthest before surfacing won. FWIW ….
“I don’t know what Underwater Swimming entails …”
Underwater swimming entails swimming under water.
I do a lot of it. Good way to get out of breath and get a good workout when the pool is crowded with people who can’t swim.
I like tug of war and rope climbing (had to do that in gym..pretty cool)
Swinging club?
Not so much–that’s what gave us Obama.
BTW- Thanks Anne, for adding a bit of “flavor” to LI. Greatly appreciated.
Javelin catching. I’d watch that.
“Running-deer shooting” sounds like racist hate stuff. You know, Running Deer, Running Bear and little White Dove are probably all related to Ma Warren.
Javelin freestyle???
What, do you do a little dance before throwing the long pointy stick?
Cross Country should be brought back. They can do it the first week before Track and Field begins.
Or combine cross country with the javelin. See, one half of a team would be runners and after they crossed a certain distance, say 50 yds, the javelin throwing half of the opposing team could have at them. Team with most runners to survive wins. I’d watch that. Lots of folks would. They’d be some runnin’ sumbitches, ya know?
Plunge for distance
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plunge_for_distance
but yet no rugby.
hell id even settle for sevens.
Club swinging has just become “swinging”. It’s what they do at the Olympic village between events. That’s why they go thru so many condoms. NBC can’t show it, though… Not yet anyhow…
The event we need to see is Horseback Archery.
I don’t know what Underwater Swimming entails
Just what it sounds like: swimming the distance underwater. Sounds quite challenging.