Welcome to Stuff you missed in History Class, A production of iHeartRadio. Hello, I'm Holly Frye. Welcome to the podcast. Man, I'm Tracy V.

Welcome to Stuff you missed in History Class, A production of iHeartRadio. Hello, I'm Holly Frye. Welcome to the podcast. Man, I'm Tracy V.

Wilson.

Wilson.

I said that different, just to mess with everybody a little bit. You mess with me a little bit. Yeah, I was like, what is my name? Is my name podcast? Listen?

I said that different, just to mess with everybody a little bit. You mess with me a little bit. Yeah, I was like, what is my name? Is my name podcast? Listen?

It's Olympic season. It is, so it makes sense we would talk about the Olympics. One of the things I have been kind of eyeing for a minute is things that are no longer in the Olympics because over the course of the modern Olympics, and we should specify we are talking about the modern Olympics from eighteen ninety six forward, there have been a number of sports that have been added and struck from the roster, and some come and go and then come back. The sledding sport of skeleton, which involves racers whipping headfirst down a track and to me is terrifying, was first introduced into the Games in nineteen twenty eight, and then it went away until another appearance in nineteen forty eight, and then in two thousand and two it came back in the Salt Lake City Games, and at that point. It involved both men's and women's events for the first time. Skateboarding was added in twenty twenty that is returning for twenty twenty four. We'll talk about a couple more at the very end that are start going to be in the twenty twenty four Games. And there are a lot of stories like that, particularly in the very early years of the Olympics, of the modern Olympics. So today we're going to talk about a few of those. One was involved for several Olympic cycles before it was taken off the program, and several are one timers. But before we get into any of the sports, we're going to talk about how sports are chosen for the Olympics Today. We have talked about the first Modern Olympics on the show before that was a Saturday Classic not too terribly long go, and that eighteen ninety six games had two hundred and forty one athletes competing across forty three events. Only twelve countries were represented. For comparison, the twenty twenty four Paris Olympics has a roster of three hundred and twenty nine events, so that's a lot more events. As of this recording, we don't know the precise number of athletes competing. The teams are still being finalized.

It's Olympic season. It is, so it makes sense we would talk about the Olympics. One of the things I have been kind of eyeing for a minute is things that are no longer in the Olympics because over the course of the modern Olympics, and we should specify we are talking about the modern Olympics from eighteen ninety six forward, there have been a number of sports that have been added and struck from the roster, and some come and go and then come back. The sledding sport of skeleton, which involves racers whipping headfirst down a track and to me is terrifying, was first introduced into the Games in nineteen twenty eight, and then it went away until another appearance in nineteen forty eight, and then in two thousand and two it came back in the Salt Lake City Games, and at that point. It involved both men's and women's events for the first time. Skateboarding was added in twenty twenty that is returning for twenty twenty four. We'll talk about a couple more at the very end that are start going to be in the twenty twenty four Games. And there are a lot of stories like that, particularly in the very early years of the Olympics, of the modern Olympics. So today we're going to talk about a few of those. One was involved for several Olympic cycles before it was taken off the program, and several are one timers. But before we get into any of the sports, we're going to talk about how sports are chosen for the Olympics Today. We have talked about the first Modern Olympics on the show before that was a Saturday Classic not too terribly long go, and that eighteen ninety six games had two hundred and forty one athletes competing across forty three events. Only twelve countries were represented. For comparison, the twenty twenty four Paris Olympics has a roster of three hundred and twenty nine events, so that's a lot more events. As of this recording, we don't know the precise number of athletes competing. The teams are still being finalized.

For a sport to be added to the Olympic Games program, there are quite a few steps. So first, it has to be recognized as a sport by the International Olympic Committee that's the IOC, which is how we'll refer to it going forward. To be recognized by the IOC, there has to be an international organization that oversees the sport, and that organization cannot be tied to any government. If a sport receives IOC recognition, it is then classified as a member of the International Sport Federation. One of the requirements of.

For a sport to be added to the Olympic Games program, there are quite a few steps. So first, it has to be recognized as a sport by the International Olympic Committee that's the IOC, which is how we'll refer to it going forward. To be recognized by the IOC, there has to be an international organization that oversees the sport, and that organization cannot be tied to any government. If a sport receives IOC recognition, it is then classified as a member of the International Sport Federation. One of the requirements of.

Sports that make it to the IO list is they enforce a code established by the World Anti Doping Agency that was established in nineteen ninety nine as a cooperative, independent international agency to oversee and facilitate consistent anti doping practices and policies. It develops these policies by working with sports organizations and world governments. The result is the World Anti Doping Code. Sports on the IF list are required to enforce this code if they want to move on to selection for inclusion in the Olympic.

Sports that make it to the IO list is they enforce a code established by the World Anti Doping Agency that was established in nineteen ninety nine as a cooperative, independent international agency to oversee and facilitate consistent anti doping practices and policies. It develops these policies by working with sports organizations and world governments. The result is the World Anti Doping Code. Sports on the IF list are required to enforce this code if they want to move on to selection for inclusion in the Olympic.

Games, then the sport that has made it to the if list has to submit a petition to the IOC to show that it meets certain criteria. For a men's sport, it has to be represented by athletes on at least four continents and in at least seventy five countries. The numbers for women's sports are a little bit different. They have to show participation across at least three continents and forty countries. But those numbers are not the only criteria. They're sort of the starting point because the petition also has to show the value of the game on the international platform that the Olympics offers. Sports that require mechanical propulsion like racing motorized vehicles, or that are considered mind sports like chess, cannot be included in the Olympics. There have been times when sports that would run a foul of those rules have been included, like powerboating, but such events are now gone. That brings us to how a sports or event might be dropped by the IOC. There's ongoing review of any of the events that are part of the Olympic roster, and some of them in that process are eliminated. There's not one single reason why that might happen. Some are logistics aspects, like whether there's enough physical space for an event and how expensive it would be to include it. If an event requires a purpose built venue, that would also be factored in, For examp, how popular a sport is, how likely it is to gain media attention. Those are also considerations, but it's not even as simple as just that. Baseball, as an example, has had an on again, off again relationship with the Olympics for decades. In some years, it was included as a demonstration event but not an official competition. From nineteen ninety nine to twenty twelve, it was an official Olympics sport, but because the summer Olympics overlapped with the season of Major League Baseball in the US.

Games, then the sport that has made it to the if list has to submit a petition to the IOC to show that it meets certain criteria. For a men's sport, it has to be represented by athletes on at least four continents and in at least seventy five countries. The numbers for women's sports are a little bit different. They have to show participation across at least three continents and forty countries. But those numbers are not the only criteria. They're sort of the starting point because the petition also has to show the value of the game on the international platform that the Olympics offers. Sports that require mechanical propulsion like racing motorized vehicles, or that are considered mind sports like chess, cannot be included in the Olympics. There have been times when sports that would run a foul of those rules have been included, like powerboating, but such events are now gone. That brings us to how a sports or event might be dropped by the IOC. There's ongoing review of any of the events that are part of the Olympic roster, and some of them in that process are eliminated. There's not one single reason why that might happen. Some are logistics aspects, like whether there's enough physical space for an event and how expensive it would be to include it. If an event requires a purpose built venue, that would also be factored in, For examp, how popular a sport is, how likely it is to gain media attention. Those are also considerations, but it's not even as simple as just that. Baseball, as an example, has had an on again, off again relationship with the Olympics for decades. In some years, it was included as a demonstration event but not an official competition. From nineteen ninety nine to twenty twelve, it was an official Olympics sport, but because the summer Olympics overlapped with the season of Major League Baseball in the US.

A lot of the best players opted out of the Olympics. Even though professional players were allowed to compete. The IOC wanted the MLB to alter this season during Olympic years, but the pro sports organization didn't want to do that. That's driven by its own fiscal determiners, So the Olympics cut the sport, but then it was back eight years later in the twenty twenty Games, which didn't happen until twenty twenty one. Because COVID, you won't see baseball in Paris this year, and that's because baseball just doesn't get a lot of interest in Europe. A whole stadium would have been needed, and it likely would not have been easy to repurpose after the Olympic Games were over. So no baseball in Paris, but it will be back for the twenty twenty eight games in Los Angeles, where obviously baseball already has a home. Now, though, we're going to look at some of the events that have not made it back into the program. Tug of war is, of course an ancient athletic competition. We don't know exactly when it started or who invented it, and because of its simplicity and its minimal equipment, it's completely likely and believed that it developed in multiple places independently, without a whole lot of variation. Cultures that would have been in modern day Egypt, India, Korea, Pacific Islands, South America, et cetera, all have some sort of tug of war in their history, and the specifics really very only in how a win might be decided. In some cases, specific points along the line of a rope might be marked with the center of the rope also marked, and the assembled people on either side have to pull that center mark past a designated point to be declared the winners. In other competitions, the distance of a pull back and forth might be measured to determine which team pulled their opponent farther, even if they were later pulled in the other direction. It's maintained its popularity over the centuries as a way for people to train and play at the same time, and it's included in events like Scottish Highland Games, Picnics and other large gatherings. In nineteen hundred, Tug of War made its Olympic debut in Paris. That year, the games were already much bigger than they had been in eighteen ninety six. There were ninety five events and nine hundred ninety seven athletes, this time, including twenty two women. In nineteen hundred and nineteen oh four, the tug of war teams consisted of five or six members. In nineteen oh eight, the number of men per team was expanded to eight. To win, the team had to pull their opposing team six feet. If neither of them managed to do that, then an additional five minutes of play was started. If neither team had succeeded in achieving this goal by that point, then the judges stepped in and they measured the progress that each team had made. Whoever had pulled their opponent farther in the course of the match was declared to be the winner. This was never a huge sport at the Olympics because only a few countries ever entered. Even so, tug of war had a lot of arguments and controversy in its early years as an Olympic event. Just determining the winner sounds like it could have been complicated.

A lot of the best players opted out of the Olympics. Even though professional players were allowed to compete. The IOC wanted the MLB to alter this season during Olympic years, but the pro sports organization didn't want to do that. That's driven by its own fiscal determiners, So the Olympics cut the sport, but then it was back eight years later in the twenty twenty Games, which didn't happen until twenty twenty one. Because COVID, you won't see baseball in Paris this year, and that's because baseball just doesn't get a lot of interest in Europe. A whole stadium would have been needed, and it likely would not have been easy to repurpose after the Olympic Games were over. So no baseball in Paris, but it will be back for the twenty twenty eight games in Los Angeles, where obviously baseball already has a home. Now, though, we're going to look at some of the events that have not made it back into the program. Tug of war is, of course an ancient athletic competition. We don't know exactly when it started or who invented it, and because of its simplicity and its minimal equipment, it's completely likely and believed that it developed in multiple places independently, without a whole lot of variation. Cultures that would have been in modern day Egypt, India, Korea, Pacific Islands, South America, et cetera, all have some sort of tug of war in their history, and the specifics really very only in how a win might be decided. In some cases, specific points along the line of a rope might be marked with the center of the rope also marked, and the assembled people on either side have to pull that center mark past a designated point to be declared the winners. In other competitions, the distance of a pull back and forth might be measured to determine which team pulled their opponent farther, even if they were later pulled in the other direction. It's maintained its popularity over the centuries as a way for people to train and play at the same time, and it's included in events like Scottish Highland Games, Picnics and other large gatherings. In nineteen hundred, Tug of War made its Olympic debut in Paris. That year, the games were already much bigger than they had been in eighteen ninety six. There were ninety five events and nine hundred ninety seven athletes, this time, including twenty two women. In nineteen hundred and nineteen oh four, the tug of war teams consisted of five or six members. In nineteen oh eight, the number of men per team was expanded to eight. To win, the team had to pull their opposing team six feet. If neither of them managed to do that, then an additional five minutes of play was started. If neither team had succeeded in achieving this goal by that point, then the judges stepped in and they measured the progress that each team had made. Whoever had pulled their opponent farther in the course of the match was declared to be the winner. This was never a huge sport at the Olympics because only a few countries ever entered. Even so, tug of war had a lot of arguments and controversy in its early years as an Olympic event. Just determining the winner sounds like it could have been complicated.

Uh, yeah, there were lots. There's bickering about tug of war. There were initially three teams scheduled to compete in tug of war in its first appearance in the Olympics in nineteen hundred, a French team, the Racing Club de France, the US team, and a mixed team made up of competitors from both Denmark and Sweden. The reason we named the French team the Racing Club is because countries could enter multiple teams, and often those teams were sent from local or special interest athletic clubs, which was the case with the Racing Club.

Uh, yeah, there were lots. There's bickering about tug of war. There were initially three teams scheduled to compete in tug of war in its first appearance in the Olympics in nineteen hundred, a French team, the Racing Club de France, the US team, and a mixed team made up of competitors from both Denmark and Sweden. The reason we named the French team the Racing Club is because countries could enter multiple teams, and often those teams were sent from local or special interest athletic clubs, which was the case with the Racing Club.

But a scheduling conflict led the US to drop out. As with many events, the players that made up the teams were participating in multiple contests, and three of the members on the US team were also doing the hammer throw, which was scheduled at the same time that day on July sixteenth, So the US withdrew, leaving the mixed team and the French team to battle for gold and silver. The mixed Scandinavian team took gold and France got the silver. There has been a lot of conflicting reporting on things at the nineteen hundred Games, including who won. This may be in part because it seems like the US team had a tug of war match with the Swedish and Danish athletes after the official match was done, presumably just for fun, and that sometimes gets reported in US papers so the.

But a scheduling conflict led the US to drop out. As with many events, the players that made up the teams were participating in multiple contests, and three of the members on the US team were also doing the hammer throw, which was scheduled at the same time that day on July sixteenth, So the US withdrew, leaving the mixed team and the French team to battle for gold and silver. The mixed Scandinavian team took gold and France got the silver. There has been a lot of conflicting reporting on things at the nineteen hundred Games, including who won. This may be in part because it seems like the US team had a tug of war match with the Swedish and Danish athletes after the official match was done, presumably just for fun, and that sometimes gets reported in US papers so the.

Best of them. It seems that because this was outside the scope of the official games, things got a little loosey goosey, and at one point additional athletes from the US jumped on the rope mid match and started adding additional pulling power. This was reported in the French press as causing quite a fight. It's one of those things that is stepped around very carefully. No one really comes out and says hands were thrown, but officials had to get involved to break things up.

Best of them. It seems that because this was outside the scope of the official games, things got a little loosey goosey, and at one point additional athletes from the US jumped on the rope mid match and started adding additional pulling power. This was reported in the French press as causing quite a fight. It's one of those things that is stepped around very carefully. No one really comes out and says hands were thrown, but officials had to get involved to break things up.

On a more positive note, though, one of the French silver medalists from the nineteen hundred Games was a man named Constantine Enriquez de Zubiira. This was the first black athlete to medal at the Olympic Games. Additionally, one of the athletes on the mixed team wasn't even at the Olympics as a competitor. Edgar Abia was a journalist working for the newspaper Politiquan and was in Paris to cover the games, but when the Danish and Swedish team realized they were down a man, they asked him to join at the last minute. So he went from just there as a spectator and journalist to being a gold medalist. Can you imagine if anything like that happened today. In a moment, we're going to talk about tug of war at the nineteen oh four Olympics. Slight spoiler, there was conflict, but first we're going to pause for a sponsor break.

On a more positive note, though, one of the French silver medalists from the nineteen hundred Games was a man named Constantine Enriquez de Zubiira. This was the first black athlete to medal at the Olympic Games. Additionally, one of the athletes on the mixed team wasn't even at the Olympics as a competitor. Edgar Abia was a journalist working for the newspaper Politiquan and was in Paris to cover the games, but when the Danish and Swedish team realized they were down a man, they asked him to join at the last minute. So he went from just there as a spectator and journalist to being a gold medalist. Can you imagine if anything like that happened today. In a moment, we're going to talk about tug of war at the nineteen oh four Olympics. Slight spoiler, there was conflict, but first we're going to pause for a sponsor break.

In nineteen oh four, the Olympics were held in Saint Louis, Missouri, and the US had four teams. One team was made up of representatives from the Milwaukee Athletic Club, or at least that was the claim. He'll get into that in a minute. This Olympics is one we've talked about before because it's a real challenge to untangle, and that is due to the fact that it was held in conjunction with the Saint Lewis Exposition, which had its own athletic events scheduled, and some athletes didn't even know they were competing in the Olympics. In some cases, reporting also got real fuzzy regarding which events were Expo events versus Olympic events, making this whole thing sort of an ongoing conundrum. If you visit the official Olympic sites, it says there were no medals in the Tug of War category, and that's because the outcomes were protested and the final presentation ceremonies were called off. But we do know the results of the actual competition.

In nineteen oh four, the Olympics were held in Saint Louis, Missouri, and the US had four teams. One team was made up of representatives from the Milwaukee Athletic Club, or at least that was the claim. He'll get into that in a minute. This Olympics is one we've talked about before because it's a real challenge to untangle, and that is due to the fact that it was held in conjunction with the Saint Lewis Exposition, which had its own athletic events scheduled, and some athletes didn't even know they were competing in the Olympics. In some cases, reporting also got real fuzzy regarding which events were Expo events versus Olympic events, making this whole thing sort of an ongoing conundrum. If you visit the official Olympic sites, it says there were no medals in the Tug of War category, and that's because the outcomes were protested and the final presentation ceremonies were called off. But we do know the results of the actual competition.

The four US teams were the New York Athletic Club, the Milwaukee Athletic Club, the Southwest turn Rain of Saint Louis number one, and the Southwest turn Brain of Saint Louis number two. Two other nations were represented. This was the Pan Hellenic Athletic Club who competed on behalf of Greece, and the Boer team as a South African delegation. The Boers lost to the Milwaukee Athletic Club and the Pan Hellenic Athletic Club lost to Saint Louis number one in the first round, and that left only US teams in contention, because the points awarded for each win were also hotly contested for teams within any given country. When it was discovered that the Milwaukee Athletic Club team was using members who were actually from the Columbian Knights Athletic Association in Chicago, it caused a protest from the New York Athletic Club. The New York team didn't even show up for their final two matches and they ended in a scratch. The standings ultimately ended at the Milwaukee Athletic Club in the gold medal position, Saint Louis Southwest Turnvreine number one in silver, and Saint Louis Southwest term Brine number two at bronze. There is a funny part of this where the New York Athletic Club already had way more points than anybody else on the board.

The four US teams were the New York Athletic Club, the Milwaukee Athletic Club, the Southwest turn Rain of Saint Louis number one, and the Southwest turn Brain of Saint Louis number two. Two other nations were represented. This was the Pan Hellenic Athletic Club who competed on behalf of Greece, and the Boer team as a South African delegation. The Boers lost to the Milwaukee Athletic Club and the Pan Hellenic Athletic Club lost to Saint Louis number one in the first round, and that left only US teams in contention, because the points awarded for each win were also hotly contested for teams within any given country. When it was discovered that the Milwaukee Athletic Club team was using members who were actually from the Columbian Knights Athletic Association in Chicago, it caused a protest from the New York Athletic Club. The New York team didn't even show up for their final two matches and they ended in a scratch. The standings ultimately ended at the Milwaukee Athletic Club in the gold medal position, Saint Louis Southwest Turnvreine number one in silver, and Saint Louis Southwest term Brine number two at bronze. There is a funny part of this where the New York Athletic Club already had way more points than anybody else on the board.

I think all of this was funny.

I think all of this was funny.

It's really like they were fighting over one point that was not going to change anything.

It's really like they were fighting over one point that was not going to change anything.

So wild.

So wild.

I imagine a lot of people stamping their feet and yeelling it's the principle of the thing. And then in nineteen oh eight the Games were held in London, and early in the tug of War competition there was a cheating accusation involving footwear in the quarterfinal, which was the only one because only the US, Sweden, and Great Britain entered Tug of War teams. The team from Liverpool quickly overtook the US team, so quickly that the athletes from the USA thought there must have been some unfair advantage. Great Britain had three teams, which was allowed again for the event at the time, one from Liverpool, one from London, and a Metropolitan team that was made up from multiple cities. Just about all of these athletes were policemen and they all wore their police boots to compete. To the US team, this seemed like cheating and the rule about allowed footwear for the Games was invoked, which stated that quote no competitor shall wear prepared boots or shoes with any kind of projecting nails, tip springs, points, hollows, or projections of any kind.

I imagine a lot of people stamping their feet and yeelling it's the principle of the thing. And then in nineteen oh eight the Games were held in London, and early in the tug of War competition there was a cheating accusation involving footwear in the quarterfinal, which was the only one because only the US, Sweden, and Great Britain entered Tug of War teams. The team from Liverpool quickly overtook the US team, so quickly that the athletes from the USA thought there must have been some unfair advantage. Great Britain had three teams, which was allowed again for the event at the time, one from Liverpool, one from London, and a Metropolitan team that was made up from multiple cities. Just about all of these athletes were policemen and they all wore their police boots to compete. To the US team, this seemed like cheating and the rule about allowed footwear for the Games was invoked, which stated that quote no competitor shall wear prepared boots or shoes with any kind of projecting nails, tip springs, points, hollows, or projections of any kind.

Okay, so here's what happened. There were accusations that there were perhaps points or some sort of protrusion that would allow them to dig in from their boots, but the Courier Journal of Louisville, Kentucky, several months later, after the whole thing had played out, shared a very detailed description of what happened. Quote. Then came the fiasco of the tug of war contest. The police of London, Liverpool, and other large English cities do not wear as gentle looking shoes as do their brethren in this country. The shoe is very heavy and has a heel plate to protect the wearer from wearing over on the heels. So when the tug of war contest was called, the American boys, who knew as much about the science of pulling a rope in a tug of war contest as a rat does in trapping a cat, came out for the event wearing patent leather sh shoes, and the ground was simply turf fed. The rules permit the use of common shoes. The shoes the Englishmen wore are common street shoes to them, and their teams knew something about the science of tug of war. And if the reader believes there is no science in tug of war, his athletic education is woefully neglected, as was that of Ralph Rose, John Flanagan, Talbot and the other Americans who just pulled on that rope, pulled and nothing more. By the way those Englishmen shifted that rope over their heads and yanked two hundred and sixty five pound Ralph Rose around was a shame. Then came the American protest, the most ridiculous act of the whole Olympiad. To show what the Englishmen thought of the protest, they offered the next day to let the Americans wear their shoes, and they the Englishmen in their bared or stocking feet, guaranteed to pull the American team all over the stadium.

Okay, so here's what happened. There were accusations that there were perhaps points or some sort of protrusion that would allow them to dig in from their boots, but the Courier Journal of Louisville, Kentucky, several months later, after the whole thing had played out, shared a very detailed description of what happened. Quote. Then came the fiasco of the tug of war contest. The police of London, Liverpool, and other large English cities do not wear as gentle looking shoes as do their brethren in this country. The shoe is very heavy and has a heel plate to protect the wearer from wearing over on the heels. So when the tug of war contest was called, the American boys, who knew as much about the science of pulling a rope in a tug of war contest as a rat does in trapping a cat, came out for the event wearing patent leather sh shoes, and the ground was simply turf fed. The rules permit the use of common shoes. The shoes the Englishmen wore are common street shoes to them, and their teams knew something about the science of tug of war. And if the reader believes there is no science in tug of war, his athletic education is woefully neglected, as was that of Ralph Rose, John Flanagan, Talbot and the other Americans who just pulled on that rope, pulled and nothing more. By the way those Englishmen shifted that rope over their heads and yanked two hundred and sixty five pound Ralph Rose around was a shame. Then came the American protest, the most ridiculous act of the whole Olympiad. To show what the Englishmen thought of the protest, they offered the next day to let the Americans wear their shoes, and they the Englishmen in their bared or stocking feet, guaranteed to pull the American team all over the stadium.

Once the Liverpool team offered a rematch wearing no shoes, the US team kind of backed off of their accusation and the games proceeded and the end the three teams from Britain swept the medals of not too surprising since they had three out of the five teams participating. Sweden had been the other, and they were also eliminated by the British team.

Once the Liverpool team offered a rematch wearing no shoes, the US team kind of backed off of their accusation and the games proceeded and the end the three teams from Britain swept the medals of not too surprising since they had three out of the five teams participating. Sweden had been the other, and they were also eliminated by the British team.

I love the shoe argument so much. In nineteen twelve, the Olympics were held in Stockholm, Sweden, but it was once again a very tiny field of competitors. Initially there had been five teams entered Sweden, Great Britain, Austria, Bohemia and Luxembourg, but the teams from those last three countries withdrew. There is not any clear documentation that explains the change, but it's entirely likely that, as in previous years, there was a scheduling conflict where athletes wanted to focus on other sports. But in any case, it came down to just Sweden and Great Britain, and Sweden took the gold in a two out of three. The second pull of the set was won by Forfeit because the team sat down as they were trying to gain more pull. And if your badonk touches the ground, it's over.

I love the shoe argument so much. In nineteen twelve, the Olympics were held in Stockholm, Sweden, but it was once again a very tiny field of competitors. Initially there had been five teams entered Sweden, Great Britain, Austria, Bohemia and Luxembourg, but the teams from those last three countries withdrew. There is not any clear documentation that explains the change, but it's entirely likely that, as in previous years, there was a scheduling conflict where athletes wanted to focus on other sports. But in any case, it came down to just Sweden and Great Britain, and Sweden took the gold in a two out of three. The second pull of the set was won by Forfeit because the team sat down as they were trying to gain more pull. And if your badonk touches the ground, it's over.

After the nineteen sixteen Olympics were skipped because of World War One, in nineteen twenty, Tug of War made its last appearance at the Games in Antwerp, Belgium. That year, there were five teams, one each from Great Britain, Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands and the US. The matches were staged August seventeenth and eighteenth. Then they seem to have been pretty uneventful in terms of scandal and conflict. In the end, Britain, with a team consisting mostly of London policemen, took the gold and the Netherlands won silver. Belgium was the bronze medal winner. I read in a few different places at the reason it tended to be policemen on tug of war is that that was a sport that they played as part of their training, and they were all very good at it. If anyone wants to corroborate or shoot down that information, because it did come up in a couple of places, love to hear it. But even though the nineteen twenty Games went fine, tug of war was not brought back for the nineteen twenty four Games. But this is one of those cases where enthusiasm for tug of war has continued. In nineteen sixty the Tug of War International Federation was formed and many clubs became members. Today, more than fifty countries are included in the organization and there are ongoing efforts to have Tug of War once again added to the Olympic program. Some events were included in the Olympics only once ever. One of these was the two hundred meter Obstacle Course swim, which sounds like something you might see on Ninja Warrior today because it combines obviously swimming and obstacles. This one was part of the nineteen hundred Paris Olympics and athletes had to compete in.

After the nineteen sixteen Olympics were skipped because of World War One, in nineteen twenty, Tug of War made its last appearance at the Games in Antwerp, Belgium. That year, there were five teams, one each from Great Britain, Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands and the US. The matches were staged August seventeenth and eighteenth. Then they seem to have been pretty uneventful in terms of scandal and conflict. In the end, Britain, with a team consisting mostly of London policemen, took the gold and the Netherlands won silver. Belgium was the bronze medal winner. I read in a few different places at the reason it tended to be policemen on tug of war is that that was a sport that they played as part of their training, and they were all very good at it. If anyone wants to corroborate or shoot down that information, because it did come up in a couple of places, love to hear it. But even though the nineteen twenty Games went fine, tug of war was not brought back for the nineteen twenty four Games. But this is one of those cases where enthusiasm for tug of war has continued. In nineteen sixty the Tug of War International Federation was formed and many clubs became members. Today, more than fifty countries are included in the organization and there are ongoing efforts to have Tug of War once again added to the Olympic program. Some events were included in the Olympics only once ever. One of these was the two hundred meter Obstacle Course swim, which sounds like something you might see on Ninja Warrior today because it combines obviously swimming and obstacles. This one was part of the nineteen hundred Paris Olympics and athletes had to compete in.

The River Sin. Two hundred meters which is six hundred and fifty six feet is not a super long swim, not that I could do it, but once you had in the obstacles, it does become quite a challenge. There were three obstacles on the course. The first was a pole that sat just above the water and swimmers had to climb over it. The second was a row of small boats and the swimmer had to climb over that, and then the last obstacle was another row of boats, this time competitors had to swim under them before continuing on to the finish line. This was a freestyle event, so the swimmers could use whatever stroke they were strongest with, and this would have been especially important in the current of the Sin, which can be brutal.

The River Sin. Two hundred meters which is six hundred and fifty six feet is not a super long swim, not that I could do it, but once you had in the obstacles, it does become quite a challenge. There were three obstacles on the course. The first was a pole that sat just above the water and swimmers had to climb over it. The second was a row of small boats and the swimmer had to climb over that, and then the last obstacle was another row of boats, this time competitors had to swim under them before continuing on to the finish line. This was a freestyle event, so the swimmers could use whatever stroke they were strongest with, and this would have been especially important in the current of the Sin, which can be brutal.

Although twenty eight swimmers signed up for this race, only twelve actually competed. The rest are listed as did not start in the official reporting. After three heats, Frederick Lane of Australia took the gold, Auto Valla of Austria the silver, and Peter Camp of Great Britain finished the third for the bronze. Frederick Lane also won a gold in the two hundred meter without obstacles. We have some more one timers to go, but for tent a year from the sponsors ep stuff you missed in history class going. Another event that only appeared in nineteen hundred as an Olympic sport was croquet. This one comes with a little bit of a caveat, just as we mentioned in the discussion of Tug of War that the nineteen oh four Olympics had been held at the same time as an exposition, and there was confusion even among athletes about what exactly they had participated in. Paris had a similar setup and it had similar problems. And in the case of croquete, there have been sources that say it was not an Olympic event, although it did appear in the event guide and it is listed as an event on the official record. Beyond that, there are still a lot of questions about it. There appeared to be very as ale interrist in Olympic croquet. According to a Time magazine article from twenty twelve, only one spectator bought a ticket to watch. It is not which of the several days matches that person might have seen. Additionally, only one country was represented, which was France. In addition to low spectator interest, the press wasn't really excited about publishing the latest updates on croquet. There just was not a lot of written information about it.

Although twenty eight swimmers signed up for this race, only twelve actually competed. The rest are listed as did not start in the official reporting. After three heats, Frederick Lane of Australia took the gold, Auto Valla of Austria the silver, and Peter Camp of Great Britain finished the third for the bronze. Frederick Lane also won a gold in the two hundred meter without obstacles. We have some more one timers to go, but for tent a year from the sponsors ep stuff you missed in history class going. Another event that only appeared in nineteen hundred as an Olympic sport was croquet. This one comes with a little bit of a caveat, just as we mentioned in the discussion of Tug of War that the nineteen oh four Olympics had been held at the same time as an exposition, and there was confusion even among athletes about what exactly they had participated in. Paris had a similar setup and it had similar problems. And in the case of croquete, there have been sources that say it was not an Olympic event, although it did appear in the event guide and it is listed as an event on the official record. Beyond that, there are still a lot of questions about it. There appeared to be very as ale interrist in Olympic croquet. According to a Time magazine article from twenty twelve, only one spectator bought a ticket to watch. It is not which of the several days matches that person might have seen. Additionally, only one country was represented, which was France. In addition to low spectator interest, the press wasn't really excited about publishing the latest updates on croquet. There just was not a lot of written information about it.

There's not h There were four events, three that were medled and one that was not. So those events were singles for one ball, singles for two balls, and doubles. Those all got medals, And then there was what's called a handicap event, by which we mean the practice of weighted scoring or other means to make it competitive no matter the different skill levels of the players. It's like an open invitational. A look at the medalist list shows that most of the time the same people were playing in every single event. In singles one ball gold went to Gaston and what silver and bronze to Cretien Wadelik. In singles two balls, gold, silver and bronze went to Cretien way Leick, Maurice Vignau and Jacques Sotroux. The doubles open shows only one winner, a team made up of George and Gaston A. Watt. Maurice Vigneau also won the singles two ball handicap event. We don't know the names of any of the other competitors in that event. That is how undercovered it was. More interesting than the.

There's not h There were four events, three that were medled and one that was not. So those events were singles for one ball, singles for two balls, and doubles. Those all got medals, And then there was what's called a handicap event, by which we mean the practice of weighted scoring or other means to make it competitive no matter the different skill levels of the players. It's like an open invitational. A look at the medalist list shows that most of the time the same people were playing in every single event. In singles one ball gold went to Gaston and what silver and bronze to Cretien Wadelik. In singles two balls, gold, silver and bronze went to Cretien way Leick, Maurice Vignau and Jacques Sotroux. The doubles open shows only one winner, a team made up of George and Gaston A. Watt. Maurice Vigneau also won the singles two ball handicap event. We don't know the names of any of the other competitors in that event. That is how undercovered it was. More interesting than the.

Medals list is the fact that the nineteen hundred croquet events featured some of the first women Olympians, Jean fill Brohi, Marie Ojier and louise A Marie des Prez. All three of these women played against the men in both singles events, although it appears they didn't all finish the game. It's not really known if there was a doubles team composed of women. They joined Helene de Portal as the women trailblazers in the Olympics that year. Portal had won a gold medal in yachting. Given the exclusively French field of competitors the low interest of spectators, it's not really surprising that croquet did not make another appearance at the nineteen oh four Games or any game since. The nineteen oh four Olympics did feature the game of roche, which is similar to croquet, but that is played on a hard court instead of a lawn. The plunge for distance was included in only one Olympic Games, that was in nineteen oh four. This is a fascinating challenge for an athlete. The competitors had to dive into a lake from a starting position standing at the edge of a platform, and then the distance they traveled in the lake without moving their body was measured to determine the winner. Once the diver's natural buoyancy or their need to breathe brought their head out of the water, that run was over. It could also end at sixty seconds if the diver hadn't surfaced, so this is basically a contest to see who was best at making themselves a water projectile. This was a sport that had been invented sometime in the eighteen hundreds. The first written records of it are from eighteen sixty five. I feel like jumping off of high places into bodies of water, not as an official sport, probably going back way before that, but like this is that actual.

Medals list is the fact that the nineteen hundred croquet events featured some of the first women Olympians, Jean fill Brohi, Marie Ojier and louise A Marie des Prez. All three of these women played against the men in both singles events, although it appears they didn't all finish the game. It's not really known if there was a doubles team composed of women. They joined Helene de Portal as the women trailblazers in the Olympics that year. Portal had won a gold medal in yachting. Given the exclusively French field of competitors the low interest of spectators, it's not really surprising that croquet did not make another appearance at the nineteen oh four Games or any game since. The nineteen oh four Olympics did feature the game of roche, which is similar to croquet, but that is played on a hard court instead of a lawn. The plunge for distance was included in only one Olympic Games, that was in nineteen oh four. This is a fascinating challenge for an athlete. The competitors had to dive into a lake from a starting position standing at the edge of a platform, and then the distance they traveled in the lake without moving their body was measured to determine the winner. Once the diver's natural buoyancy or their need to breathe brought their head out of the water, that run was over. It could also end at sixty seconds if the diver hadn't surfaced, so this is basically a contest to see who was best at making themselves a water projectile. This was a sport that had been invented sometime in the eighteen hundreds. The first written records of it are from eighteen sixty five. I feel like jumping off of high places into bodies of water, not as an official sport, probably going back way before that, but like this is that actual.

We're gonna make rules of measures.

We're gonna make rules of measures.

So this hadn't been around for all that long when it became an Olympic event, but it had already been part of swim meets in the US and abroad.

So this hadn't been around for all that long when it became an Olympic event, but it had already been part of swim meets in the US and abroad.

The nineteen oh four Plunge for Distance competition was held on September fifth, nineteen oh four, at a body of water that was called Life Saving Lake. That was a man made body of water that had been used, as the name suggests, to train first responders in life saving protocols in the water. The event did not have a lot of competitors, just five. All of them were from the US and specifically from the New York Athletic Club. The gold medal went to William Dickey, who traveled sixty two feet six inches about nineteen meters, Silver went to eh Adams, who traveled fifty seven feet six inches or seventeen and a half meters, and bronze went to Leo Goodwin, who managed fifty seven feet or seventeen point three meters. The two non placing competitors were Newman Samuels and Charles Pira, who made it fifty five feet and forty six feet respectively. Prior to the Olympics, Priya had held a record for the longest plunging distance in the United States. When the nineteen oh eight Olympics were held in London, plunging for distance was not on the program, nor did it ever return. It was simply not considered athletic enough, and press coverage of the nineteen four event had not been particularly flattering. Lastly, we'll have a brief mention of one other thing that was also a one timer, also from the nineteen hundred Olympics, and including it basically because we know there will be some people who will ask about it if we don't. Also though, to show how very different the games are today, because there's no way this event would be happening in twenty twenty four. Uh, this is going to be very brief and a high level mention. But it's also gruesome and involves animal cruelty. So if that is not something you want to hear about, just jump ahead to the listener mail, which will happen in about two minutes. So instead of shooting clay pigeons in nineteen hundred, there was an Olympic event that involved shooting live pigeons, and the goal was to shoot as many birds as possible. Each shooter shot once per round, and if a shooter missed twice, that was the end of their competition. Leon de Lunden of Belgium shot twenty one pigeons and one gold. Maurice Farre of France shot twenty birds to take the silver, and the bronze was a tie between two US competitors, Donald McIntosh and Crittenden Robinson. Each of them shot eighteen pigeons. This is the only time in Olympics history when animals were killed as part of a contest, but it also included cash prizes, which is not part of the Olympics normally. Nearly three hundred birds were sadly killed in this event, which led to vocal criticism from animal welfare groups, of course, but also from the general public, which just found this whole thing kind of grizzly and ghastly as dead birds littered the ground over the course of the competition. Both the awkwardness of the situation with the prize money and the general distaste for the whole thing led to live birds thankfully never being used again, and according to some accounts, the IOC retroactively relabeled this as a non Olympic event. As we mentioned at the top of the show, there are new events added to the Olympic roster all the time. For twenty twenty four, spectators can look forward to breaking also called break dancing, although it is already not being planned for the twenty twenty eight Games. Additionally, skateboarding will have a second showing as an Olympic sport. We mentioned up at the top of the show that one debuted in Tokyo. Whether we'll continue to see these events and other newcomers, or if they will be relegated to history, that remains to be seen. I'm honestly very excited about the break dancing and I kind of have thematic listener mail. I have two listener mails. They're both pretty brief, but if you are an Olympics watcher and you need a snack, here we go. The first is spicy popcorn. This is from our listener Robin, who writes, Holly and Tracy, thank you, as ever for your excellent work on the podcast. A bit delayed, so I'm not sure if anyone else wrote in with this suggestion, but I had something I wanted to share about popcorn. Have you ever done spicy popcorn. Pop your corn and put it in a big bowl. Shoot over a few shakes of tabasco or your other favorite hot sauce, Toss and repeat until your popcorn is as seasoned as you like. I typically shoot and toss three times make some tasty, spicy, vinegary deliciousness. I too like popcorn on the edge of burn and am in a constant friendly battle with my partner who laments over any burn bits whatsoever. I don't know that sounds sort of perfect because you know you're not competing over this same pieces. I am a woos and I don't do a whole lot of spicy stuff, but I bet this would be interesting, and I bet if you use shriracha you'd get a really yummy popcorn. I have definitely put it on popcorn before nice and we had a powdered like a powdered version, not exactly the same thing, but like it was a powdered spice that was meant to replicate the note, and that was really good on popcorn Yumo. Our other popcorn email is from our listener Paul, who writes about popcorn perfection and I felt a kinchip. Paul writes, I Holly and Tracy loved listening to your popcorn techniques and wanted to offer my own eighth inch of oil in a heavy bottom stockpot along with the tablespoon or two of butter. Butter alone will burn, so the oil keeps that from happening, and half a cup of kernels. Turn the heat to medium, and cover with a clear lid. Clear because it's fun to watch. With this method, I managed once to achieve the legendary and much sought after perfect pop As I reached the bottom of the bowl without yet encountering an unpopped kernel, my heart began to race. Further inspection revealed no unpopped kernels whatsoever. My joy and celebration were not shared by my family members, but I went to sleep smiling that night. Regarding the pet tas, please enjoy a picture of our pit bullboxer wy Marene or mix Gunny, trying to steal my wife. The smug look on his face says it all. Thanks for everything, best regards, Paul. This dog is so cute. The reason he says he's trying to steal his wife is he has his arm around his wife's shoulder and it's looking back over his own shoulder, like, hey, it's very very cute. That is a very pretty dog. I hope he is as delightful as he is beautiful. I understand the perfect pop thing because I too, am always hoping that this will be the tie that's unpop kernels and I have a clear glass lid that I use as well because I do love to watch it both. I think that's great, fabulous.

The nineteen oh four Plunge for Distance competition was held on September fifth, nineteen oh four, at a body of water that was called Life Saving Lake. That was a man made body of water that had been used, as the name suggests, to train first responders in life saving protocols in the water. The event did not have a lot of competitors, just five. All of them were from the US and specifically from the New York Athletic Club. The gold medal went to William Dickey, who traveled sixty two feet six inches about nineteen meters, Silver went to eh Adams, who traveled fifty seven feet six inches or seventeen and a half meters, and bronze went to Leo Goodwin, who managed fifty seven feet or seventeen point three meters. The two non placing competitors were Newman Samuels and Charles Pira, who made it fifty five feet and forty six feet respectively. Prior to the Olympics, Priya had held a record for the longest plunging distance in the United States. When the nineteen oh eight Olympics were held in London, plunging for distance was not on the program, nor did it ever return. It was simply not considered athletic enough, and press coverage of the nineteen four event had not been particularly flattering. Lastly, we'll have a brief mention of one other thing that was also a one timer, also from the nineteen hundred Olympics, and including it basically because we know there will be some people who will ask about it if we don't. Also though, to show how very different the games are today, because there's no way this event would be happening in twenty twenty four. Uh, this is going to be very brief and a high level mention. But it's also gruesome and involves animal cruelty. So if that is not something you want to hear about, just jump ahead to the listener mail, which will happen in about two minutes. So instead of shooting clay pigeons in nineteen hundred, there was an Olympic event that involved shooting live pigeons, and the goal was to shoot as many birds as possible. Each shooter shot once per round, and if a shooter missed twice, that was the end of their competition. Leon de Lunden of Belgium shot twenty one pigeons and one gold. Maurice Farre of France shot twenty birds to take the silver, and the bronze was a tie between two US competitors, Donald McIntosh and Crittenden Robinson. Each of them shot eighteen pigeons. This is the only time in Olympics history when animals were killed as part of a contest, but it also included cash prizes, which is not part of the Olympics normally. Nearly three hundred birds were sadly killed in this event, which led to vocal criticism from animal welfare groups, of course, but also from the general public, which just found this whole thing kind of grizzly and ghastly as dead birds littered the ground over the course of the competition. Both the awkwardness of the situation with the prize money and the general distaste for the whole thing led to live birds thankfully never being used again, and according to some accounts, the IOC retroactively relabeled this as a non Olympic event. As we mentioned at the top of the show, there are new events added to the Olympic roster all the time. For twenty twenty four, spectators can look forward to breaking also called break dancing, although it is already not being planned for the twenty twenty eight Games. Additionally, skateboarding will have a second showing as an Olympic sport. We mentioned up at the top of the show that one debuted in Tokyo. Whether we'll continue to see these events and other newcomers, or if they will be relegated to history, that remains to be seen. I'm honestly very excited about the break dancing and I kind of have thematic listener mail. I have two listener mails. They're both pretty brief, but if you are an Olympics watcher and you need a snack, here we go. The first is spicy popcorn. This is from our listener Robin, who writes, Holly and Tracy, thank you, as ever for your excellent work on the podcast. A bit delayed, so I'm not sure if anyone else wrote in with this suggestion, but I had something I wanted to share about popcorn. Have you ever done spicy popcorn. Pop your corn and put it in a big bowl. Shoot over a few shakes of tabasco or your other favorite hot sauce, Toss and repeat until your popcorn is as seasoned as you like. I typically shoot and toss three times make some tasty, spicy, vinegary deliciousness. I too like popcorn on the edge of burn and am in a constant friendly battle with my partner who laments over any burn bits whatsoever. I don't know that sounds sort of perfect because you know you're not competing over this same pieces. I am a woos and I don't do a whole lot of spicy stuff, but I bet this would be interesting, and I bet if you use shriracha you'd get a really yummy popcorn. I have definitely put it on popcorn before nice and we had a powdered like a powdered version, not exactly the same thing, but like it was a powdered spice that was meant to replicate the note, and that was really good on popcorn Yumo. Our other popcorn email is from our listener Paul, who writes about popcorn perfection and I felt a kinchip. Paul writes, I Holly and Tracy loved listening to your popcorn techniques and wanted to offer my own eighth inch of oil in a heavy bottom stockpot along with the tablespoon or two of butter. Butter alone will burn, so the oil keeps that from happening, and half a cup of kernels. Turn the heat to medium, and cover with a clear lid. Clear because it's fun to watch. With this method, I managed once to achieve the legendary and much sought after perfect pop As I reached the bottom of the bowl without yet encountering an unpopped kernel, my heart began to race. Further inspection revealed no unpopped kernels whatsoever. My joy and celebration were not shared by my family members, but I went to sleep smiling that night. Regarding the pet tas, please enjoy a picture of our pit bullboxer wy Marene or mix Gunny, trying to steal my wife. The smug look on his face says it all. Thanks for everything, best regards, Paul. This dog is so cute. The reason he says he's trying to steal his wife is he has his arm around his wife's shoulder and it's looking back over his own shoulder, like, hey, it's very very cute. That is a very pretty dog. I hope he is as delightful as he is beautiful. I understand the perfect pop thing because I too, am always hoping that this will be the tie that's unpop kernels and I have a clear glass lid that I use as well because I do love to watch it both. I think that's great, fabulous.

I love that people all love popcorn as much as or not all, but many people seem to love popcorn as much as me. Yeah, we've gotten a lot of popcorn email from us, very enthusiastic folks.

I love that people all love popcorn as much as or not all, but many people seem to love popcorn as much as me. Yeah, we've gotten a lot of popcorn email from us, very enthusiastic folks.

Popcorn is delicious. Lately, I have been on a weird kick for me because I always say that I am more of a butter tooth than a sweet tooth, Like I want savory stuff all the time, but lately I have been wanting candy popcorn constantly. I don't know what's going on there. I should go back to savory. It's probably better for me, just because I have blood sugar spikes sometimes. But anyway, popcorn popcorn all the time. Dinner popcorn here we come. Thank you for sharing all your popcorn recipes. You could still keep sending them because I'm still reading them. If you would like to do that, you can do that at History podcast at iHeartRadio dot com. You can also subscribe on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you like to listen.

Popcorn is delicious. Lately, I have been on a weird kick for me because I always say that I am more of a butter tooth than a sweet tooth, Like I want savory stuff all the time, but lately I have been wanting candy popcorn constantly. I don't know what's going on there. I should go back to savory. It's probably better for me, just because I have blood sugar spikes sometimes. But anyway, popcorn popcorn all the time. Dinner popcorn here we come. Thank you for sharing all your popcorn recipes. You could still keep sending them because I'm still reading them. If you would like to do that, you can do that at History podcast at iHeartRadio dot com. You can also subscribe on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you like to listen.

Stuff you missed in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.

Stuff you missed in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.