Discontinued Olympic Sports
Events > Olympics > Discontinued > Sports > Tug of War
Tug-of-War at the Olympics
The tug of war event was held at the Olympics from 1900 to 1920.
Tug-of-war was always contested as a part of the track & field athletics programme, although it is now considered a separate sport. This may seem like an unusual Olympic sport, but in fact it was part of the Ancient Olympics, first being held in in 500BC.
In the modern Olympics, the tug-of-war contest was between two teams of eight. One team had to pull the other six feet along in order to win. If after 5 minutes no team had done this, the team which had pulled the most was declared the winner.
Results
The best all-time performing Tug of War athletes at the Olympic Games were Frederick Humphreys, Edwin Mills and John James Shepherd with 2 gold medals and one silver. see more on the Greatest Tug of War Athlete at the Olympic Games
1900
1904
1906
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1908
1912
1920
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Trivia
- Constantin Henriquez de Zubiera, competing for in the tug of war for France in 1900, was the first black athlete to compete at the Olympics.
- The biggest controversy came in 1908 when the Liverpool police team competed in "enormous shoes, so heavy, in fact, it was with great effort they could lift their feet from the ground." The rules had stipulated ordinary shoes, and the Americans protested, but to no avail. The U.S. team subsequently withdrew.
Related Pages
- The Greatest Tug of War Athlete at the Olympic Games
- See the full list of Discontinued Events
- more about the unusual sport of tug of war
