1. Ice Hockey and Figure Skating (Summer Olympics)
Before anybody begins shouting fowl and declaring the obvious; that ice hockey and figure skating can hardly be regarded odd or surprise Olympic games, please continue reading. Certainly both of these sports have been the cornerstone sports of the Winter Olympic Games from the very beginning.
Who can forget the magnificent figure skating of individuals like Sonja Henie, Peggy Fleming, Kristi Yamaguchi, Brian Boitano and Scott Hamilton? And who doesn’t still experience chills of national pride when we think of the Miracle on Ice squad of the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics? So what makes these two apparently well-known Winter Olympic sports usual? Because each of these sports had their Olympic début in the Summer Olympic Games.
That’s true, both ice based sports were both temporarily part of the Summer Olympics. Figure skating debuted at the 1908 Summer Games in London. While the other “warm weather” sports were conducted in April, the figure skating was performed until the end of October, which made the London Games the longest in modern Olympics history. Figure skating reappeared, this time paired with ice hockey, at the 1920 Summer Games in Antwerp.
Fortunately, an indoor ice rink, the Palais de Glace d’Anvers, was available to host both events thus they were able to be staged in April along with the other “summer sports”.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, given their role on the birth of modern hockey, Canada was the winner of the inaugural Olympic ice hockey gold medal, with the United States claiming the silver and Czechoslovakia snagging the bronze. Four years later the Winter Olympic Games started in 1924 in Chamonix. These first Winter Games comprised skiing, bobsledding, curling, and of course, figure skating and ice hockey.
Michael Young was born and reared in Iowa. In 1996, a longstanding ambition was accomplished when he visited the Olympic Games in Atlanta with his eldest son. He has been a school teacher and an insurance underwriter. He is now studying on his Master’s Degree in Social Work at the University of Iowa.
2. Live Pigeon Shooting
Leon de Lunden of Belgium won the live pigeon shooting event at the 1900 Olympics in Paris – the only occasion in Olympic history where animals were murdered on purpose.
Leon de Lunden of Belgium won the live pigeon shooting event at the 1900 Olympics in Paris – the only occasion in Olympic history where animals were murdered on purpose.
Unfortunately, this is horrific occurrence is exactly what it sounds like. Live pigeons were released one at a time and participants sought to shoot as many in a row as possible. As soon as a contender missed two birds, they were eliminated. Nearly 300 birds were shot and killed. As one would anticipate this incident went pretty nasty as the area quickly became covered with dead and injured birds, feathers and blood.
To add to the oddity, an award of 20,000 Francs was the reward for the winner. The top four finishers decided to divide the prize. Fortunately animal rights organisations raised enough fuss that the Olympics organizers switched to clay pigeons in all their future events. There has been significant controversy over the years on whether or not this was a recognised Olympic event and the IOC (International Olympic Committee) has been unwilling to validate it.
Either way, luckily this was the first occasion in Olympic history that animals were murdered on purpose. There was another shooting sport called the 100 meter running deer that was featured in the Olympics from 1908 to 1948 but thankfully for Bambi aficionados, the “deer” were really cardboard cutouts that ran sideways across an open field.
3. Skeleton (Cresta)
This may seem like a shocking inclusion to those out there who follow the Winter Games. Skeleton has been a regular event at the Winter Olympics since 2002. For those not acquainted Skeleton is similar to the luge except that the contestants ride face first and on their stomachs instead of feet first and on their backs. However, what makes this event so uncommon is that until 2002, it was only featured when the Winter Games was held in St.
Moritz, Switzerland, reportedly because they were the only one that possessed a genuine Skeleton (or Cresta Run) course. Unfortunately for the Skeleton fans, the games had only been to St. Moritz twice (in 1928 and 1948). To add another fascinating twist American John Heaton won the silver medal in the 1928 games (behind his elder brother Jennison). He then came back to St.
Moritz 20 years later for the 1948 games and again won the silver medal in the Skeleton, giving him the record for the greatest interval between winging two Olympic medals for the same sport. To top things off, or because he was bored in between the two St. Moritz games, he also won the bronze medal in the two-man bobsled at the 1932 Lake Placid Winter Games.
4. Tug of War
This rather recognisable sport, maybe most commonly encountered on the playground as youngsters, was a regular competition, making five appearances in the Olympic Games from 1900 to 1920. In the 1904 St. Louis Games, the American teams (two of which came from the same St. Louis athletic club) swept the medals undoubtedly giving a new meaning to home field advantage.
Four years later, at the 1908 London Games, Great Britain repaid the favor by sweeping all three medals on their own ground. Interestingly, all three British teams were made of police personnel. The 1908 tournament was not without its controversies, though. The American team, formed largely of athletes in the throwing events (who had together won 16 Olympic gold in the discus, shot put and hammer throw competitions) were heavily trounced in the first pull by the Liverpool Police squad.
The Americans issued a complaint saying that the boots worn by the British squad constituted prohibited footwear. The British side replied that the boots were part of the normal police gear. The objection was denied and the American team departed in anger.