Paris Olympics: 6 fun, unique sports you won’t see at the Games this year

When people think of Tug of War, they often think about their physical education lessons. But believe it or not, it was part of the Olympics from 1900 to 1920. Teams of eight people had to pull a distance of six feet to win. If neither team did so within five minutes, the one that had pulled a greater distance would be declared the winner.

Due to the short nature of the event, teams were often composed of athletes participating in other sports.

The Olympics have always been regarded as an athletics event. However, starting with the 1912 Stockholm Games, art competitions involving architecture, literature, music, painting, and sculpture related to sports were also part of the events. While initially unpopular, audiences began to look forward to them by the 1924 Paris Olympics.

Unfortunately, all the art competitions were removed in 1949 because the International Olympic Committee (IOC) concluded that most participants in these events were professionals, which didn’t reflect well on the Olympics’ amateur reputation.

Although it debuted as an exhibition sport during the 1988 Games in Seoul, bowling has yet to return to the biggest sports stage. Recent host countries France (2024) and Japan (2020) both rejected the event. It was meant to be a demonstration sport in Tokyo but was cut due to the IOC’s decision to only showcase sports that appealed to the youth.

Bowling also does not have representation in the Paralympics, which further deterred the IOC from accepting it as an official sport. However, this has not stopped bowlers from fighting for its inclusion, and millions worldwide still enjoy the game.

Paris Olympics: 6 Hong Kong athletes making their debut at the 2024 Games

Although kite flying was held at the 1900 Summer Olympics, it was not an official sport in the Games and was considered part of the ballooning event. Originally, there were to be two competitions: one judging altitude, verified by instrument recorders attached to the kite, and the other focused on stability, which required the kites to remain in the air for two hours with 200 metres of cable. However, organisers had to make adjustments due to the large turnout, range of different kites and lack of wind on the day of the event.

Hot air balloons have been around since 1783 and were first used for military signalling. A ballooning event was held for the first and last time at the Paris Olympics in 1900. Athletes competed based on the distance they travelled, the time they remained in the air and their accuracy in landing.

With a lack of strict rules, competitors were allowed to select what kind of gas to use to make the balloon float, and they could carry oxygen to breathe better in high altitudes. French balloonist Comte Henri de la Vaulx won the top prize, taking home a gold plate and 1,000 Francs, about US$11,000 in modern currency. However, while people continued to enjoy watching balloons in flight, we never saw this sensational sight at the Olympics again.

Everyone has seen firefighters in action at some point, whether in their favourite action film or on the news. It sounds strange, but this astonishing act of bravery was once featured in the Olympics. It was an event at the 1900 Paris Olympics, though interestingly enough, France chose not to compete.

Competitions were held for volunteer and professional firefighters, who were required to extinguish a large blaze and rescue several people from a tall building. Although it ultimately occurred only once at the Olympics and wasn’t considered an official sport, you can still check out feats of firefighting at the biennial World Firefighters Games, which started in 1988.