Held for the first time in Greece, Athens back in 1896, the modern Olympics are considered the world’s foremost sports competition with more than 200 teams that are representing independent states participating.
The games have evolved and looked different each year they take place, as some sports are removed while others are added. According to the Paris 2024 Olympics website, there are currently 40 different sporting codes available for athletes to compete in. Whereas, there were only 33 available at the previous 2022 Tokyo Olympics.
Olympic historian, Bob Barney told NBCInsider that “The International Olympic Committee will try something and if it works great, they will embrace it, they will refine it, they will carry it on. If it doesn’t work, well, back to the drawing board.”
Here is a list of 3 sports that were once a part of the Olympics but have since been removed:
1. Tug of war
Tug of war was once a competitive sport in the Olympics, however, after the 1920 games, the sport was removed along with 33 others. According to the Tug of War Association, the reason provided for this was that there were too many sports and too many participants and that it was merely an effort to cut down numbers.
The Tug of War International Federation (TWIF) has since been created, hosting several international championships.
2. Karate
Although making a successful debut in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics with approximately 80 participants, the sport did not make the bid this year at the Paris Olympics. Reuters claims that the organisers rejected previous bids due to sports’ lack of entertainment value. It is stated that the organisers might have applied the same reasoning this time around, although it is uncertain.
3. Solo synchronised swimming
From 1984 up until 1992, solo synchronised swimming, now modernly referred to as artistic swimming was a sport in the Olympics. This may be a bit confusing, as the term synchronised insinuates that it cannot be an individual event.
However, synchronisation refers to syncing with the music, and not one’s teammates.
Although it is not certain, it is speculated that the sport was removed due to the difficulty of judging the sport. With no one to compare the swimmer to, it becomes more difficult to determine whether a move was good or not. The sport also still exists outside of the Olympics with world championships taking place.
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