Old Olympic Games
With the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics postponed until next summer and itching for our Olympic-fix, we got curious about the history of the games and - more specifically - how the sports and events are chosen. Since the first modern Olympic Games were held in 1896, a number of events have been discontinued and added over the years. But how is this determined and which ones have been canned?
Terminology baseline: Olympic "sports" are the overall categories in which athletes compete. Within Olympic sports there can be numerous "events". Sports and events can be discontinued for a variety of reasons but usually due to a decline in popularity, which results in less athletes competing and a drop in viewership. Ultimately, the decision lies with the IOC (International Olympic Committee). Factors such as cost, venue needs, media viewership and popularity play a large role. Here are a few Summer Olympic sports that have been discontinued over the years:
Croquet
Cricket
Jeu de Paume
Pelota
Polo
Golf (returned in 2016)
Rugby (returned in 2016)
Pentathlon of the Muses (the Olympics of art ran from 1912 to 1948 and was surprisingly popular)
Baseball (dropped 2012/returning 2021)
Softball (dropped 2012/returning 2021)
Motorboating (get your mind out of the gutter)
Roque
Rackets
Tug-of-war
Lacrosse
And here are a few Olympic events that have been discontinued:
Plunge for Distance
Underwater Swimming (but...um...isn’t this swimming?)
Standing High-Jump
Running Deer
Dueling Pistol (we’re pretty sure this was discontinued early on, based on the name alone)
In the 2021 Summer Olympic Games, gender equality has been an important factor, with events being added/dropped in an effort to level the playing field (pardon the pun):
New Sports:
Baseball (returning after a two-game absence)
Softball (same as above)
Karate
Skateboarding
Sport Climbing
Surfing
New Events:
Mixed Archery
3v3 Basketball
Boxing (increased weight classes)
Canoe/Kayak
BMX Park Racing
Madison Cycling
Fencing (all six events are included and not split between winter/summer)
Judo (mixed team event)
Rowing (men’s lightweight dropped and women’s lightweight added)
Shooting (mixed team event)
Swimming (one new distance and mixed gender event added)
Table Tennis (mixed doubles)
Triathlon (mixed team)
Track & Field (mixed gender event)
Water Polo (more women’s teams will compete bringing the total number to 10)
Curious to learn more? Check out the links below Full list of discontinued sports and events How sports are added to the Olympics Image by Bryan Turner