Something you didn’t know about Olympic events and sports Olympics being of the prestigious sports events of the world, one gets to see numerous sports with athletes from across the globe. While most of the sports performed at the event people are familiar with, in the history of the Olympics, there have been sports and games that are unique, weird, unusual, and unheard of. Here is presenting a list of sports that are unique to the event. Plunge for Distance During the 1900s Olympics, the organisers decided to combine swimming long jumps to see how far a sportsperson can dive underwater, remain still for one minute, or up until the heads come to the surface. As per the rules, athletes who glided the farthest distance won the competition. Surprisingly, this event at the Olympics had only five contestants, all of whom were from America. The event was won by William Dickey, who travelled up to a distance of 62.5 feet. Roque A sport that was known less outside the United States, Roque was included in the 1904s Summer Olympics game. The American version of the game is a variant of the game croquet and is played on the hard surface. Played on the hard sand or clay, which is a 30 by a 60-foot court that is bordered by a boundary wall, a curb bevelled at the ends forming an octagon. During that time, only Americans competed in the event. Live Pigeon Shooting While shooting is part of the Olympics even now, in the 1900s, the competition of shooting was held with pigeons as the subject. The competitors in these events were to kill as many live pigeons as possible. The birds were released one at a time from 'traps' to be shot at, and if a shooter missed two birds, they were eliminated. Belgium won the gold medal as he claimed 21 pigeons. But finally, in 1902, bans were enforced in the United States, leading to the introduction of clay pigeons. Race Walking This event at the Olympics has been ever since the beginning and is contested over a variety of distances. In the current Olympic athletics program, there are three race walking events - men's and women's 20 kilometres walk and a men's 50 kilometres walk. The first race walking event was at the 1908 London Olympics, which was for the men. Other unique sports played at the Olympics are Horse Long Jump, Hot Air Ballooning, Tug-of-War, Running Deer Shooting, Obstacle Swim, and Running Deer Shooting.
