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The list of Discontinued sports at the Summer Olympics [1] also includes: - Pigeon racing - Cannon shooting - Life saving Among other interesting entries.

by tcgv 2y ago

The list of Discontinued sports at the Summer Olympics [1] also includes: - Pigeon racing - Cannon shooting - Life saving Among other interesting entries. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Discontinued_sports_at_the_Summer_Olympics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Discontinued_sports_a...

nemo44x 2y ago
I’m kind of surprised bowling was an event (briefly) but now is not. I don’t keep up with it but I’ve somehow been bowling in a variety of countries. Is it the professional game is just too biased towards the USA? I believe top player is Australian? Also I have to imagine Pickle Ball will be featured in the next Olympics. Maybe it can take break-dancings spot.
- bargle0 2y ago
  Flag Football and 6-player Lacrosse are next up in 2028.
- omnicognate 2y ago
  It was an event at the Seoul Olympics in 1988, but attempts to have it made a permanent event failed, apparently partly because it requires expensive facilities that aren't always available in poorer countries. Doesn't seem to have been a blocker for sailing or ski jumping...
  - Macha 2y ago
    I suspect if Sailing and Skiing were proposed as events in 1998 and not 1896 and 1936 respectively, they would face similar issues.
    - wongarsu 2y ago
      They held an event in 1936 and tried to make it an official part of the 1940 Olympics. If the Olympic games of 1940 hadn't been cancelled it might have made it in. https://www.topendsports.com/events/demonstration/bowling.htm https://www.topendsports.com/events/demonstration/bowling.ht...
  - wongarsu 2y ago
    Bowling lanes are a bit more involved than a race track, but it doesn't seem that involved. It's basically waxed wood flooring with some dividers. You can just put that down in a regular stadium for a couple days. Normally bowling alleys are expensive because of the machinery, but the Olympics aren't lacking in manpower. Just dedicate one person per lane to manually setting the pins. If you dress them up a bit that can even add some visual flourish.
    - boomboomsubban 2y ago
      The concern isn't that the country hosting the Olympics won't be able to afford a bowling alley, it's that competing in the sport would be economically out of reach for much of the world.
      - dagw 2y ago
        it's that competing in the sport would be economically out of reach for much of the world. I don't know anything about 'high end' bowling, but I cannot see how it could be any more expensive than many other sports at the Olympics.
        boomboomsubban 2y ago
        My local bowling alley charges $25 an hour to rent a lane. Practicing 20 hours a week makes it $2000 a month. Admittedly, they probably have strong discounts for someone bowling that much, but that's only the price for a beginners practice spot. Winter sports and some older competitions probably match that, but I think they try to be more aware of that for summer sports. Compare it to another recent addition, skateboarding. One of the competitor's (medalist I think?) family went without electricity for a month to afford her first board, but after that it with some luck it was affordable enough to get her to the Olympics.
      - wongarsu 2y ago
        But doesn't the same line of though still apply? Making a bowling lane in your back yard or in a community center is pretty cheap if you set the pins manually. In terms of costs for a training spot with Olympic-like conditions it would be pretty middle of the pack and probably in the cheaper half. It's more expensive than say table tennis or marathon, but a lot cheaper than swimming, pole vault or golf, never mind the heavy hitters like ski jumping.
  - Kon-Peki 2y ago
    > Doesn't seem to have been a blocker for sailing or ski jumping... The boats they use in the Olympics are generally standardized designs that have been around for a very long time. The most common Olympic boat is the Laser, which has been around since the 1960s. You can make one yourself if you feel like it. They'll take out a measuring tape and if all the dimensions are correct you are good to go. You could buy an Olympic-quality one from a manufacturer for $6k or less, including all the sails. You can watch out for a Craigslist post offering one up for free if you just come get it. There are stacks and stacks of them all over sailing clubs everywhere in the world - because they've been building them exactly the same for 70 years. There are so many Lasers out there people don't know what to do with them. The exact kiteboarding thingy they use can be bought off the shelf at plenty of sailing stores for $3k or less. Yes, the bigger boats they are using for the two-person races can get pricy, but that's just a fraction of Olympic sailing.
- cjpearson 2y ago
  The sports for 2028 have already been decided. Flag football, baseball/softball, cricket, lacrosse and squash will be added. Breaking will not be included.
  - nemo44x 2y ago
    Flag Football sounds interesting. I’m curious if much of the world will compete in it. Looks like a fun format with a small field, 5 players per side and clear rules - 4 tries to get a touchdown. And very fast I’m guessing.
    - AlexAndScripts 2y ago
      I'd love to see Olympic capture the flag.
    - boomboomsubban 2y ago
      Apparently 42 teams competed in the last IFAF Flag Football World Championship. More countries than are members of the International Kabaddi Federation.
  - b3ing 2y ago
    Breakdancing seemed way too late, like someone old on the decision team was out of place with that one. At that rate, Pickleball will be added in 40yrs - "Oh yeah I remember back after the Covid Pandemic, Pickleball was popular", says 60-70yr old person.
    - klyrs 2y ago
      Oh hey that's my mom-in-law!
  - KingMob 2y ago
    Damn you, Raygun! /s Though tbf, I'm not sure any competition with an artistic element belongs in the Olympics. I would ditch stuff like figure skating and synchronized swimming. Gymnastics can stay, but I'd prefer it be more standardized.
usrbinbash 2y ago
> Cannon shooting I'm sorry, WHAT? oO
- i_am_proteus 2y ago
  Not the Olympic "cannon shooting" event, but there is a tradition of athletic competitions for gun crews. A 'famous' example is the Royal Navy Field Gun competition, an obstacle course for howitzer and crew: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhdcnQZf3fo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhdcnQZf3fo
  - arethuza 2y ago
    "This tradition came into being as a direct result of the heroic actions taken by Admiral Meux and his crew during the Boar War." Those must have been impressive boars if they needed guns that big! ;-)
    - greenavocado 2y ago
      Search youtube for "texas boar hunt m134" or HeliBacon
      - Cthulhu_ 2y ago
        Why not link directly to a relevant video?
        greenavocado 2y ago
        In case it is taken down
        xeromal 2y ago
        Yup. Happens more than you like "This video has been made private"
- Scarblac 2y ago
dilawar 2y ago
Also cricket. It's coming back to the Olympics next time though. The last time (and only one time) was in 1900 in Paris. Only two teams participated: one was France and the other of course Britain.
- tomhoward 2y ago
  Only now that T20 cricket is played in many countries including USA and continental European countries does it make sense to have cricket in the Olympics. That really only became true in the past year with USA participating in the ICC T20 World Cup. With older forms of the game (5-day test cricket and 1-day/50-over cricket), matches took too long and it was played by too few countries to make sense. I’m sure another motivator to include cricket in the Olympics is to appeal to viewers in/from India, Pakistan and other south Asian countries that aren’t so prominent in other Olympic sports.
exabrial 2y ago
Honestly the last one needs to be a thing for so many reasons. I had an experience in the Florida keys a number of years ago that has stuck with me. I was on a snorkeling charter and some foreigners were aboard [of Asian decent]. (I've included their race here just for context, not racism, as formal swimming lessons overseas are not nearly as common as they are in the USA). I was near the front of the boat on the second level when I saw someone splashing. I had a small flashback of what a swim coach had told me at 13 years old: Drowning does not look like drowning in the movies. I yelled that captain who was setting an anchor, and the first mate who was helping tourists put their fins on. Both looked confused what I was trying to signal through the bussle, so I dove off the second deck and swam to the person. He was under before I got behind him, so I yanked him above water by his un-inflated vest and tipped his head back over my shoulder. He rapidly tried to pull me under so I had to restrain his arms with one hand and inflate his vest with my other hand and mouth, while treading with just my legs. Scariest 10s of my life, but it was over that quick once I got a little positive buoyancy into his vest. The current had pulled us about 35 yards from the boat at that point so I had to swim towards the boat a bit to grab the rescue line. Captain and first mate thanked me profusely. The guy couldn't speak english and didn't realize he needed to wait in line for the first mate to check everything (including vest inflation). Instead he just jumped in off another part of the boat. The tour company gave us a refund and bought us dinner.
jabroni_salad 2y ago
I saw fire fighting was in there. That could make a comeback, there is (at least in the US) actually still a national circuit of firefighting challenge courses and they are pretty sweet to watch. Plus, firefighters are good for PR in basically every country in the world, right? I've also seen lineman challenges where they compete to rescue a dummy from the top of a pole. Lineman is always interesting to me since nobody wants to get close to the kinda things they have to get close to, so they end up needing to do all of their own stunts.
mc32 2y ago
What I'd like to see come back is amateurship, or at least non-professional, non-salaried participants again. Like, it's not their main gig. They do something else, but are level A amateurs who love a sport or activity without getting paid a salary.
- koolba 2y ago
  Why is that better than the best of the best regardless of economic background? There’s a reason most people prefer to watch professional soccer rather than pub leagues.
  - eltoxo 2y ago
    Because no one watches something like the shot put other wise, EVER. It use to be the Olympics were the one showcase for the non-popular sports. Case in point, the shot put. One of the long standing "unbreakable" records was Randy Barnes shot put from the late 80s. Ryan Crouser broke that last year and won the gold medal this year, again. It is an incredible accomplishment but no one cares because Lebron and Steph Curry were going for the gold or why watch the shot put when you can watch break dancing. I feel bad for anyone who is not old enough to have watched it when it was all amateurs. It was something so special. Just have the Taylor Swift karaoke event already. I am sure that would get great ratings and that is all that matters obviously.
    - koolba 2y ago
      I don’t see why allowing professionals to compete prevents anyone from enjoying other events. It sounds like your complaint is that the professionals consume the oxygen of the Olympics and prevent the rest from getting as much share of the public’s attention. For the record, the break dancing was really fun to watch, all the track and field events are always fun to watch, and the training and dedication to all the competitors is admirable. The real problem is that the enshitification of all modern media means that there’s not a single repo of video of all the events. Even finding the video of one specific event is a gigantic PITA.
  - 2y ago
insane_dreamer 2y ago
I find it sadly shocking that they have "breakdancing" as an Olympic sport and not squash -- which is played worldwide at a very high level. It's not as popular in the US as other countries, but at least as popular as badminton.
- csb6 2y ago
  Squash will be in the 2028 Olympics.

by tcgv 2y ago

nemo44x 2y ago

I’m kind of surprised bowling was an event (briefly) but now is not. I don’t keep up with it but I’ve somehow been bowling in a variety of countries. Is it the professional game is just too biased towards the USA? I believe top player is Australian? Also I have to imagine Pickle Ball will be featured in the next Olympics. Maybe it can take break-dancings spot.

bargle0 2y ago
Flag Football and 6-player Lacrosse are next up in 2028.
omnicognate 2y ago
It was an event at the Seoul Olympics in 1988, but attempts to have it made a permanent event failed, apparently partly because it requires expensive facilities that aren't always available in poorer countries. Doesn't seem to have been a blocker for sailing or ski jumping...
- Macha 2y ago
  I suspect if Sailing and Skiing were proposed as events in 1998 and not 1896 and 1936 respectively, they would face similar issues.
  - wongarsu 2y ago
    They held an event in 1936 and tried to make it an official part of the 1940 Olympics. If the Olympic games of 1940 hadn't been cancelled it might have made it in. https://www.topendsports.com/events/demonstration/bowling.htm https://www.topendsports.com/events/demonstration/bowling.ht...
- wongarsu 2y ago
  Bowling lanes are a bit more involved than a race track, but it doesn't seem that involved. It's basically waxed wood flooring with some dividers. You can just put that down in a regular stadium for a couple days. Normally bowling alleys are expensive because of the machinery, but the Olympics aren't lacking in manpower. Just dedicate one person per lane to manually setting the pins. If you dress them up a bit that can even add some visual flourish.
  - boomboomsubban 2y ago
    The concern isn't that the country hosting the Olympics won't be able to afford a bowling alley, it's that competing in the sport would be economically out of reach for much of the world.
    - dagw 2y ago
      it's that competing in the sport would be economically out of reach for much of the world. I don't know anything about 'high end' bowling, but I cannot see how it could be any more expensive than many other sports at the Olympics.
      - boomboomsubban 2y ago
        My local bowling alley charges $25 an hour to rent a lane. Practicing 20 hours a week makes it $2000 a month. Admittedly, they probably have strong discounts for someone bowling that much, but that's only the price for a beginners practice spot. Winter sports and some older competitions probably match that, but I think they try to be more aware of that for summer sports. Compare it to another recent addition, skateboarding. One of the competitor's (medalist I think?) family went without electricity for a month to afford her first board, but after that it with some luck it was affordable enough to get her to the Olympics.
    - wongarsu 2y ago
      But doesn't the same line of though still apply? Making a bowling lane in your back yard or in a community center is pretty cheap if you set the pins manually. In terms of costs for a training spot with Olympic-like conditions it would be pretty middle of the pack and probably in the cheaper half. It's more expensive than say table tennis or marathon, but a lot cheaper than swimming, pole vault or golf, never mind the heavy hitters like ski jumping.
- Kon-Peki 2y ago
  > Doesn't seem to have been a blocker for sailing or ski jumping... The boats they use in the Olympics are generally standardized designs that have been around for a very long time. The most common Olympic boat is the Laser, which has been around since the 1960s. You can make one yourself if you feel like it. They'll take out a measuring tape and if all the dimensions are correct you are good to go. You could buy an Olympic-quality one from a manufacturer for $6k or less, including all the sails. You can watch out for a Craigslist post offering one up for free if you just come get it. There are stacks and stacks of them all over sailing clubs everywhere in the world - because they've been building them exactly the same for 70 years. There are so many Lasers out there people don't know what to do with them. The exact kiteboarding thingy they use can be bought off the shelf at plenty of sailing stores for $3k or less. Yes, the bigger boats they are using for the two-person races can get pricy, but that's just a fraction of Olympic sailing.
cjpearson 2y ago
The sports for 2028 have already been decided. Flag football, baseball/softball, cricket, lacrosse and squash will be added. Breaking will not be included.
- nemo44x 2y ago
  Flag Football sounds interesting. I’m curious if much of the world will compete in it. Looks like a fun format with a small field, 5 players per side and clear rules - 4 tries to get a touchdown. And very fast I’m guessing.
  - AlexAndScripts 2y ago
    I'd love to see Olympic capture the flag.
  - boomboomsubban 2y ago
    Apparently 42 teams competed in the last IFAF Flag Football World Championship. More countries than are members of the International Kabaddi Federation.
- b3ing 2y ago
  Breakdancing seemed way too late, like someone old on the decision team was out of place with that one. At that rate, Pickleball will be added in 40yrs - "Oh yeah I remember back after the Covid Pandemic, Pickleball was popular", says 60-70yr old person.
  - klyrs 2y ago
    Oh hey that's my mom-in-law!
- KingMob 2y ago
  Damn you, Raygun! /s Though tbf, I'm not sure any competition with an artistic element belongs in the Olympics. I would ditch stuff like figure skating and synchronized swimming. Gymnastics can stay, but I'd prefer it be more standardized.

usrbinbash 2y ago

> Cannon shooting I'm sorry, WHAT? oO

i_am_proteus 2y ago
Not the Olympic "cannon shooting" event, but there is a tradition of athletic competitions for gun crews. A 'famous' example is the Royal Navy Field Gun competition, an obstacle course for howitzer and crew: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhdcnQZf3fo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhdcnQZf3fo
- arethuza 2y ago
  "This tradition came into being as a direct result of the heroic actions taken by Admiral Meux and his crew during the Boar War." Those must have been impressive boars if they needed guns that big! ;-)
  - greenavocado 2y ago
    Search youtube for "texas boar hunt m134" or HeliBacon
    - Cthulhu_ 2y ago
      Why not link directly to a relevant video?
      - greenavocado 2y ago
        In case it is taken down
        xeromal 2y ago
        Yup. Happens more than you like "This video has been made private"
Scarblac 2y ago

dilawar 2y ago

Also cricket. It's coming back to the Olympics next time though. The last time (and only one time) was in 1900 in Paris. Only two teams participated: one was France and the other of course Britain.

tomhoward 2y ago
Only now that T20 cricket is played in many countries including USA and continental European countries does it make sense to have cricket in the Olympics. That really only became true in the past year with USA participating in the ICC T20 World Cup. With older forms of the game (5-day test cricket and 1-day/50-over cricket), matches took too long and it was played by too few countries to make sense. I’m sure another motivator to include cricket in the Olympics is to appeal to viewers in/from India, Pakistan and other south Asian countries that aren’t so prominent in other Olympic sports.

exabrial 2y ago

Honestly the last one needs to be a thing for so many reasons. I had an experience in the Florida keys a number of years ago that has stuck with me. I was on a snorkeling charter and some foreigners were aboard [of Asian decent]. (I've included their race here just for context, not racism, as formal swimming lessons overseas are not nearly as common as they are in the USA). I was near the front of the boat on the second level when I saw someone splashing. I had a small flashback of what a swim coach had told me at 13 years old: Drowning does not look like drowning in the movies. I yelled that captain who was setting an anchor, and the first mate who was helping tourists put their fins on. Both looked confused what I was trying to signal through the bussle, so I dove off the second deck and swam to the person. He was under before I got behind him, so I yanked him above water by his un-inflated vest and tipped his head back over my shoulder. He rapidly tried to pull me under so I had to restrain his arms with one hand and inflate his vest with my other hand and mouth, while treading with just my legs. Scariest 10s of my life, but it was over that quick once I got a little positive buoyancy into his vest. The current had pulled us about 35 yards from the boat at that point so I had to swim towards the boat a bit to grab the rescue line. Captain and first mate thanked me profusely. The guy couldn't speak english and didn't realize he needed to wait in line for the first mate to check everything (including vest inflation). Instead he just jumped in off another part of the boat. The tour company gave us a refund and bought us dinner.

jabroni_salad 2y ago

I saw fire fighting was in there. That could make a comeback, there is (at least in the US) actually still a national circuit of firefighting challenge courses and they are pretty sweet to watch. Plus, firefighters are good for PR in basically every country in the world, right? I've also seen lineman challenges where they compete to rescue a dummy from the top of a pole. Lineman is always interesting to me since nobody wants to get close to the kinda things they have to get close to, so they end up needing to do all of their own stunts.

mc32 2y ago

What I'd like to see come back is amateurship, or at least non-professional, non-salaried participants again. Like, it's not their main gig. They do something else, but are level A amateurs who love a sport or activity without getting paid a salary.

koolba 2y ago
Why is that better than the best of the best regardless of economic background? There’s a reason most people prefer to watch professional soccer rather than pub leagues.
- eltoxo 2y ago
  Because no one watches something like the shot put other wise, EVER. It use to be the Olympics were the one showcase for the non-popular sports. Case in point, the shot put. One of the long standing "unbreakable" records was Randy Barnes shot put from the late 80s. Ryan Crouser broke that last year and won the gold medal this year, again. It is an incredible accomplishment but no one cares because Lebron and Steph Curry were going for the gold or why watch the shot put when you can watch break dancing. I feel bad for anyone who is not old enough to have watched it when it was all amateurs. It was something so special. Just have the Taylor Swift karaoke event already. I am sure that would get great ratings and that is all that matters obviously.
  - koolba 2y ago
    I don’t see why allowing professionals to compete prevents anyone from enjoying other events. It sounds like your complaint is that the professionals consume the oxygen of the Olympics and prevent the rest from getting as much share of the public’s attention. For the record, the break dancing was really fun to watch, all the track and field events are always fun to watch, and the training and dedication to all the competitors is admirable. The real problem is that the enshitification of all modern media means that there’s not a single repo of video of all the events. Even finding the video of one specific event is a gigantic PITA.
- 2y ago

insane_dreamer 2y ago

I find it sadly shocking that they have "breakdancing" as an Olympic sport and not squash -- which is played worldwide at a very high level. It's not as popular in the US as other countries, but at least as popular as badminton.

csb6 2y ago
Squash will be in the 2028 Olympics.