Baseball and softball are the only sports that have been dropped from the Olympics since 1936, having been voted out by the IOC Session in Singapore on July 11, 2005, a decision that was reaffirmed on February 9, 2006, and reversed on August 3, 2016. However, many Olympic games had previously been barred in 1936.
1. Polo
No, not the water game Marco Polo, but hey, maybe that’ll be the next big thing. The “prestige” sport, which basically involves hitting a ball with a mallet while on horseback, sizzled in the early 1900s, appearing just five times (in 1900, 1908, 1920, 1924, and 1936).
2. Ballooning
Piloting gas balloons at the 1900 Games, the winning team traveled about 768 miles in almost 36 hours!
3. Cannon Shooting
Olympics got a little too wild in 1900. Cannon shooting had a total of 17 different events.
4. Tug of War
From 1900–20, nations would stand across from one another and pull a rope to prove who was stronger.
5. Rackets
The photo above does not do it justice, but it was basically an old-school version of the game squash. Two opponents hit a ball against the wall with their rackets and outplay each other. The game made a brief appearance in 1908 but vanished.
6. Lacrosse
The front half of the 1900s featured lacrosse, a sport shockingly no longer a part of the Games. It is still pretty popular in the States, and unsurprisingly, Canada currently holds the most gold.
7. Motor Boating
Water sports were a big showcase in the 1908 Games, but unfortunately motor boating wasn’t a thrilling enough competition for the masses.
8. Kite Flying
Like many events at the 1900 Summer Olympics, kite flying was never determined to be an official sport. I imagine style points and height mattered.
9. Art Competitions
10. Firefighting
Firefighting events were held for both professional and volunteer firefighters. While Olympic firefighting lasted only one Olympics, there is still a World Firefighters Games to this day.
