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During the first modern Olympics in 1896, the athletes competed in 10 sports. Since then, many sports have come and gone and in 2012, 26 sports are part of the program. In order for a sport to be included in the list of the Summer Olympics, the current rules are it must be widely practiced in at least 75 countries, across at least four continents.
Golf was an Olympic sport in 1900 and 1904 and will be reinstated as such during the 2016 Olympic Games. Baseball and softball were Olympic sports from respectively '92 and '96 until the Beijing Games of 2008, but were then excluded. A few sports were just played during one version of the Games, such as criquet (1900), croquet (1900) and jeu de paume (1908, sort of cousin of tennis). Tug-of-war was played from 1900 to 1920 and was considered a part of the athletics programme. The idea of this sport is to pit two teams against each other in a test of strength by pulling a rope and trying to pull the other party over a pre-determined line.
Some strange events were also ones part of the Olympic swimming competition, such as obstacle swimming, underwater swimming and team swimming. The same goes for athletics, where people once gained medals in standing long jump, standing high jump and throwing with 56 pounds weight (of the sort still used in the Highland Games)
Golf was an Olympic sport in 1900 and 1904 and will be reinstated as such during the 2016 Olympic Games. Baseball and softball were Olympic sports from respectively '92 and '96 until the Beijing Games of 2008, but were then excluded. A few sports were just played during one version of the Games, such as criquet (1900), croquet (1900) and jeu de paume (1908, sort of cousin of tennis). Tug-of-war was played from 1900 to 1920 and was considered a part of the athletics programme. The idea of this sport is to pit two teams against each other in a test of strength by pulling a rope and trying to pull the other party over a pre-determined line.
Some strange events were also ones part of the Olympic swimming competition, such as obstacle swimming, underwater swimming and team swimming. The same goes for athletics, where people once gained medals in standing long jump, standing high jump and throwing with 56 pounds weight (of the sort still used in the Highland Games)
