Topical Press Agency/Getty ImagesSir Cosmo Duff Gordon, right, later a Titanic survivor, and two British fencing teammates hold dueling pistols at the 1908 London Games, though the individual event was held only in 1906. And none of the duelists was actually shot.As the Olympics has grown and modernized over the years, many events have fallen by the wayside. While many are unmourned — does anyone miss club swinging? — others could easily return to the program. Here are the top 10 events that would be exciting to resurrect. (Hat tip to “The Complete Book of the Olympics” and Sports Reference’s Olympics section for much of the history below.)
10. The 12-hour bicycle race, 1896
The riders got on their bikes at 7 a.m. and rode until 7 p.m. The winner, Adolf Schmal of Austria managed about 180 miles, and only two competitors finished, but couldn’t today’s ultramarathon set turn this into a real test of man and machine?
9. Softball, 1996-2008
Baseball was dumped after the last Olympics: there was concern that the best players weren’t participating because the Games take place during the Major League Baseball season. Softball was presumably thrown overboard along with it for gender equity reasons. But the best women did play in the tournament, and depth was improving: though the United States won the first three gold medals, Japan won in 2008. Softball games are seven-inning, often low scoring affairs in which every pitch can be crucial. They can make for more enjoyable viewing than an 11-6 baseball game.
8. Cricket, 1900
Cricket should come back, but in a new format: Twenty20, an action-packed variant in which games last only a couple of hours, rather than several days. This is a fast-growing form of the game, popular in South Africa, the subcontinent, the Caribbean and Australia as well as its birthplace, Britain.
7. Sixteen-man naval rowing boats with cox, 1906
The eights is currently the marquee rowing event at the Games. So how fantastic would a 16-man boat race be?
6. 200-meter swimming obstacle race, 1900
How to make the 200-meter freestyle more exciting? Make the competitors climb a pole, swim under a row of boats and clamber over another row of boats.
5. Tandem bicycle 2,000-meter sprint, 1906-1972
A bicycle built for two doesn’t seem so quaint when it’s racing at top speed on a steeply banked velodrome. Expect crashes.
4. Javelin, both hands, 1912
In this event, competitors threw with the left and right hand, and were ranked by the total distance of both throws. Shouldn’t ambidextrous people have an Olympic event to call their own? (There was a similar event for shot put and discus too.)
3. Dueling pistol, 1906
No actual duels were fought, alas. Rather, contestants shot at a dummy dressed in a frock coat. Shooting events tend to be rather dull to watch, but they would have a chance with creative thinking like this.
2. Cross-country race, 1912-1924
Quoting from “The Complete Book of the Olympics” about the 1924 event, which was held on a hot day over a difficult course:
One after another strong athletes staggered onto the track. … Out on the roads there were worse scenes of carnage, as various contestants were overcome by sunstroke and vomiting. Hours later the Red Cross and Olympic officials were still searching the sides of the road for missing runners.
This event proved to be an almost total disaster, which put an end to cross-country races in the Olympics.
Wait. Put an end to cross-country? A race that entertaining should have enshrined cross-country permanently in the Games!
1. Tug of war, 1900-1920
We’ve all participated in tugs at a church picnic or a school sports day. It’s fun. And why wouldn’t a bunch of burly guys pulling for their country be riveting viewing? Tug of war is already recognized by the International Olympic Committee, and the world governing body has 59 member nations.
Here’s an idea. Hold the tug on the final day and require that all members of the team be participants in other sports. An interdisciplinary tug team of weight lifters, shot putters and heavyweight boxers would be a grand example of the spirit of the Olympics. And more entertaining than a lot of current Olympic sports.
Topical Press Agency/Getty ImagesThe United States competing in the tug of war at the 1908 London Olympics. The event, like many others, was discontinued.