Sports are interesting, particularly if you know the rules and are familiar with them. For some people, sports like curling and cricket seem like a complete mystery, even after they learn the rules and watch a few games. People agree that sometimes, however, you don’t have to fully understand what’s going on in the sport in order to enjoy it – sometimes the game is so beautiful that it makes you want to stay and watch it until the end. Sometimes, while enjoying a match or two, people turn to bet365 bonus code to have more fun while watching an unknown sport – they browse the odds and try to find if there are odds for such a sport.
Yet, there have been many sports which have graced us over the years, some of which were Olympic sports. There are many reasons as to why a sport had been an Olympic sport and then stopped being one. Regardless, here are some of the most interesting former Olympic sports.
Cricket – The Long Sport
Cricket matches can last a long time but that is not really the reason as to why we do not see more of it on the Olympic stage. Cricket made its appearance at the 1900 Olympics and after that, it has not been played again since. The cricket match was played between England and France, with most of the French players being English ambassadors and diplomats.
With that in mind, there is a bit of an interesting fact about the 1948 Olympics, is that there was a cricket match playing not far from the stadium where the Olympics were being held at the time, in London.
Baseball – A History of On and Off
Baseball, America’s national pastime, a sport which many people in North America cherish, and nowadays, plenty in Europe and Japan, has had an on and off experience at the Olympics. It became an Olympic sport in 1992, but it wasn’t until 2000 that professionals could play.
It is scheduled to be played at the 2020/2021 Olympics, but it will not be at the 2024 Olympics. With that, it was also not in the 2012 Olympics, while it was at all others in between. Baseball, while a strange sport for most uninitiated sports fans, is still having some on and off showings at the Olympics.
Alpinism – Four Years of Success
Alpinism wasn’t contested at the Olympics, but rather in the four years leading from each Olympic to the next, from 1924 until 1936. During that time, many climbers fell to their deaths while climbing some of the world’s most dangerous faces, like the Eiger North Face, not to mention multiple expeditions to the Himalayan and Karakoram 8000ers.
It was discontinued due to practical reasons, as well as those of safety. Encouraging athletes to attempt riskier climbs in order to achieve a medal was considered inappropriate. Though, given the inherent riskiness of alpinism, it would be interesting to see it once more in this format, now that athletes are faster and safer when climbing.
These are some of the most interesting discontinued Olympic sports. You could add polo, tug of war, motor boating and lacrosse to the list, as well as plenty of other sports.