OLYMPIC SPORTS from the past
Sports no longer practised at the Olympics.
Golf
Golf has been on the Olympic programme two times before, in 1900 and 1904 to be precise. There were both men and ladies golf events in 1900 but in 1904 the ladies event was dropped. Golf is one of the world's most popular sports with around 60 million players world-wide. golf is being played in over 100 nations. Golf also has a long history, as it origins can be traced back several centuries, and it has had organised international competitions since the mid-19th century. In the last decade golf has made strong efforts to return to the Olympic programme. Golf has a very long history. While Scotland is widely associated as the home and birthplace of golf, there is great debate about the earliest derivation of the game. Some historians believe that golf descended from "paganica", played with a feather stuffed ball and a curved stick, a game that the Romans brought with them to Britain. Another idea is that golf was a Dutch game called "het kolven" and there are paintings from the 18th century by Dutch painters showing a game similar to golf being played on ice and land. However, by this time it is believed some form of golf had been played in Scotland for three hundred years.Rugby football
Rugby football is one of the earliest forms of football in which the ball is carried rather than kicked. It developed in Great Britain in the mid-19th century. Originally, rugby league was considered the professional sport and rugby union the amateur one, but in 1995 the International Rugby Board made rugby union an open sport, allowing professional competition. Rugby union football was held at the Olympics in 1900, 1908, 1920 and 1924.Polo
Polo was on the Olympic programme in 1900, 1908, 1920, 1924 and 1936. Polo is considered the oldest mounted team sport, with a history reaching back centuries, when it was played in the plains of Asia, ancient Persia, China and India by nomadic warriors and was used for training cavalry.Tug-of-war
Tug-of-war was on the Olympic programme in 1900, 1904, 1906 (Intercalated Games), 1908, 1912 and 1920. Tug-of-war was always contested as a part of the track and field athletics programme, although it is now considered a separate sport. The Olympic champions were as follows: 1900: a combined Swedish/Danish team; 1904: an American club team representing the Milwaukee Athletic Club; 1906: Germany/Switzerland; 1908: a British team from the City of London Police Club; 1912: Sweden; and 1920: Great Britain. There is no specific time and place in history to define the origin of the game of Tug of War. The contest of pulling on the rope originates from ancient ceremonies and rituals. Evidence is found in countries like Egypt, India, Myanmar and New Guinea. The origin of the game in India has strong archaeological roots going back at least to the 12th Century AD in the area what is today the State of Orissa on the east coast. The famous Sun Temple of Konark has a stone relief on the west wing of the structure clearly showing the game of Tug of War in progress.Lacrosse
Lacrosse was contested as a full medal sport at the 1904 and 1908 Olympics. In 1904, two Canadian teams challenged a local team from St. Louis, with the Shamrock Lacrosse Team of Winnipeg winning the gold medal. Lacrosse was also a demonstration sport at the Olympics in 1928, 1932 and 1948. According to most accounts, the first Europeans to see a version of LaCrosse being played, were French explorers who thought the stick resembled a bishop's crozier (la crosse, in French). However, the French played a form of field hockey that was called jeu de la crosse, and that's a much more likely origin of the name.Other Wierd and wonderfull former Olympic Sports:
Please help us make Golf Olympic and give a small contribution towards the up keep of this site.