Home > Resources > Polls > Sport > Olympics > Sports Dropped > 2023

There are over 30 sports on the Olympic program, and within many of the sport categories there are more sports and sporting events/disciplines. In this poll I picked out some of the sports and events that are not popular and that I think should be considered for removal from the program.

This poll ran for many years (up to 2023), and over 5000 people voted (see the updated poll). Race walking is a long term favorite to be dropped, nearly a quarter of the voters thought it should not be part of the Olympics. Our other poll "Should Race Walking be dropped from the Olympics" indicated half of you want it gone. Race walking is just one event of track and field. Of the Olympic sports, equestrian and synchronized swimming are the top sports that people have voted as their least favorite sports. There are other sports I am sure people do not like (6.7% picked 'other').

Disclaimer: These polls are not scientific, and only reflect the opinion of visitors to this website who have chosen to participate.

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Related Pages

• Which Olympic Sport Should Be Dropped? (Current Poll)
• More Olympic Games Polls, including should race walking be dropped from the Olympics.
• Poll: What is your least favorite Olympic Games sport
• About the Summer Olympics
• List of all Summer Olympic Games Sports
• List of Sports and Fitness Polls

Old Comments

Commenting is closed on this page, though you can read some previous comments below which may answer some of your questions.

• Basically any sport that isn't good enough to be watched on its own merit or is too short to make people travel to watch it in isolation or that no one cares about should be included in the Olympics. Myles (2016)
• Football - NOT AN OLYMPIC SPORT as people are interested and actually care about it.
  Synchronised swimming - absolutely no one cares about that "sport" thus should be in the olympics
  Golf - People care about the sport and watch the game alone so it shouldn't be in the Olympics.
  100 Metres - People care about the sport but no one would travel for 3 hours to watch a 10 second race...thus it should be in the Olympics.
  Rugby - good enough to stand on its own, we do not need the rugby sevens.....remove.
  racewalking - oh god, what a nonsport absolutely no one in the world barring the competitors care about this sport. Olympics is the only place for it.
  Table tennis - while it is a sport no one really cares about, and only the Chinese and koreans win it, i sure as hell wouldn't travel to watch a table tennis tournament but i don't mind the occasional watch on tv - Olympics
  Equestrian - Dressage...what a waste of time, this is not a sport at all, and loads of people seem to care about a set of toffs parading round a ring making a horse do unnatural things. I'd keep it in if only to show the world how lucky they are not to have to do it. However dressage is worth watching, if only for Kristina Sprehe.
  Handball - no one cares and it is a game you played at school....Olympics.
  Basketball - a sport only america care about, could be in the Olympics so other nations can have a go but lets be honest, only America cares if they win or lose so remove it and have a world championship instead.
  Shooting - absolutely in no way should this not be in the Olympics, no where else would you go to watch a shooting competition unless you are one of the competitors. it is too rubbish to not be in the Olympics (and i think it is great!). So to sum it up, if the sport isn't good enough, long enough or entertaining enough to justify traveling to be watched in isolation on a Saturday afternoon, it should be in the Olympics!
• Dressage Fortherestofus (2016)
  Equestrian: THERE ARE *SOME* HORSES BEING ABUSED IN THE OLYMPICS EVEN AS WE SPEAK. If the FEI/IOC and the stewards and judges can't do their job to judge properly and continue to allow the abuse which has been happening then YES, get rid of it. I'd rather see no equestrian than horses being abused. Of course, in a perfect world, things would be fine IF THEY JUDGED ACCORDING TO THEIR RULES AND IF HORSE WELFARE WAS TRULY ENFORCED ACCORDING TO THEIR RULES. Then, by all means, equestrian should stay. Common occurrences include: Over tight nosebands in violation of the rules which keep a horse from breathing as he should, excessive spurring in violation of the rules, hyperflexion positions known as rollkur/LDR/hyperflexion in violation of the rules which decrease the horse's ability to see, result in impure gaits, burden the horse's body which leads to physical pain and breakdown as well as mental and emotional abuse. Despite petitions with thousands upon thousands of signatures (last years had over 71,000 signatures which the FEI never responded to) and a current one regarding over tight nosebands (currently 17,000 and still going), despite the fact that the International Society for Equitation Science's finding of the harm of hyperflexion, despite begging by top equine professionals, despite numerous photos, magazine articles, videos, etc. HYPERFLEXED RIDING, TIGHT NOSEBANDS, AGGRESSION IN BIT USE, SPUR USE ARE STILL BEING PERMITTED.
• Anonymous (2016)
  Everyone! All of the sports listed are SPORTS. Sports is: an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment - They are all real sports! If you've never tried it then you can't say it's 'easy' or 'anyone can do it'. I've been riding for 6 years and I still find it extremely hard! I've tried archery, fencing, table tennis and I found them all difficult at first. If you've never tried it, YOU CAN'T SAY IT'S NOT A SPORT! Ok, first of all... Horses. Do. Not. Belong. In. Circuses. Before you start judging Olympic sports I suggest you get an education first. Dressage is not for circuses! I honestly can't believe I just read that. Yes, some horses are abused but not all of them. I feel sorry for the ones that are and I can see why you think it should be dropped. Not all riders are abusive towards their horses. Oh and by the way. ➡️EQUESTRIAN WAS THE first-ever SPORT IN THE OLYMPICS!⬅️ Let's just agree that all of the sports listed - They are all 'real sports'.
• John David Kromkowski (2016)
  Every "sport" that involves "panel of judges" or an animal should be eliminated from Olympics. Gymnastics, diving, synchronized swimming, boxing, dressage. Get rid of them all. They belong in circus.
• Aidan (2016)
  My Top-10 that should be dropped from the olympics
• 1:Basket ball
  2:Football (soccer)
  3:Table tennis
  4:Handball
  5:Golf
  7:Race walking
  8:Equestrian
  9:shooting
  10:Rugby
• Mostly because a good quantity of these sports have their own championship and competitions.
• Chris (2015)
  Anything that is judged should be dropped, you are just winning an opinion. If it has a finish line or score board then it stays.
• Olly Capaldo Chris (2016)
  Referee's in score based games aren't fundamentally separated from judges in the sports you're referring to, so if you removed judge based sports you'd also have to remove score based sports with a referee with impact on the game; which I actually think is best.
• Henry Peter sucks (2016)
  I think that race walking should be dropped; it isn't very sporty.
• Myles Henry Peter sucks (2016)
  That is the idea of the olympics....stuff people do that no one cares about! ;)
• Keep Equestrian (2016)
  Equestrian definitely should remain in the Olympics! The amount of time and effort that goes into the conditioning and training of BOTH horse and rider is phenominal! I hate how people say the horse does it all.. If you think that, go to your nearest Grand Prix stable and try it yourself! I always thought the olympics was about broadcasting amateur sports... Why the hell is golf and tennis in there then?! And soccer?! They are completely elitist! Earning hundreds of thousands each competition! The olympics is becoming more money hungry over the years than actually caring about the reason why people love to watch it; to see athletes representing their country (Thorpe, Cathy, Phelpes, The Roycrofts etc), and especially the underdogs (Bradbry, Eddie the Eagle etc...).. To be honest, I have only watched two sports during this year's games; Equestian (all disciplines) and women's canoe slalom (Jess Fox).. I'll definitely watch the T&F but other than that, I'm not too ecstatic about everything else... But that's me..
• Eloise (2016)
  A message to those who believe that equestrian is not a sport:
  Could you motivate yourself to be out on the gallops in the driving rain?
  Could you pack fence heights, stride lengths, corner angles, optimum times, faults, lines, trajectories, related distances, time penalties, fence combinations and complex dressage movements into your head, and recall those details at a moment's notice?
  Could you develop the patience and maturity to fine-tune both yourself and another athlete?
  Could you climb onto the back of a less-than-predictable animal, in the knowledge that every ride could be your last?
  Could you deal with constantly smelling of poo, and having no 'non-horsey' friends?
  Could you work all hours of the day and night to pay the hay, feed, bedding, training, equipment and stabling bills? Could you commit to hours of picking out feet, shovelling poo, washing and repairing endless muddy and torn rugs, painstakingly strip cleaning tack, and lugging about surprisingly heavy haynets, thirty-litre buckets of water and 20-kilo sacks of feed? Could you find the sheer strength to control half a ton of galloping muscle over more that four miles and more than thirty fences? Could you brave the cross-country course, fully aware that at the next fence you could suffer a rotational fall, and be crushed to death by your own horse?
  Could you do all this and have enough energy left to love your horse like a child, sibling or best friend? 
• "A message to those who believe that equestrian is not a sport: Could you motivate yourself to be out on the gallops in the driving rain?" No, especially not if it meant trying to prance a horse around a ring....YAWN! Myles Eloise (2016)
• Then maybe we should add "human canonball" and lion taming as sport. Dressage belongs in circus. John David Kromkowski Myles (2016)
• AGREE!, though human canonball and lion taming...mmm perhaps suggest that at the next IOC meeting! Myles John David Kromkowski (2016)
• I don't think that equestrian event should be dropped from the Olympics just because the horse is the athlete, the horse and rider work together. I think that they should add more equestrian events to appeal to a broader range of people. Kat (2016)
• Eilidh Somerville Kat (2016)
  Believe you me I used to be a big fan of the equestrian sports and would watch quite a few of them religiously. However, I really had to question my loyalty as a fan because of the all whip and spur abuse that went unchecked (a lot of the riders that are responsible for it keep on doing it so that means they aren't being reprimanded) and then there is all this talk about 'partnerships' between horse and rider. It's not exactly a 'partnership' when horses are sold at the drop of the hat if the right offers are made. When you bring all this buying and selling up you are told that it's a business. So what exactly are the sports about? Are they about the partnerships or are they considered businesses? Then those things got me thinking about welfare. How fair is it on the horses flying them all around the world exposing them to all sorts of viruses and stressing them out? They don't have a clue either about the concepts of the Olympics or of winning and losing. Turn a horse out on a cross country course, in an arena with markers or jumps and what will they do? Will they go and jump the jumps, go from walk to trot at E or do a passage at B? Or will they drop their heads and munch the grass instead? I think I know what they would do. They only 'compete' because of the riders on their backs. The riders are also fully aware of the risks involved. Whereas the horses don't. They are clueless of the fact that if they have a fall and break a leg or their neck then they are going to be shot. So I don't think that horses should be used in sport. Anyway, I voted for modern pentathalon because it includes show jumping and i have seen many examples of downright dangerous riding in that phase and there was some shocking displays at the last two Olympics.
• Steph Eilidh Somerville (2016)
  You'll find that majority of athletes (yes the rider is also the athlete, its is actually hard to ride in the top level) don't abuse their horses or anything like it. As with all sports, theres people who love to disagree, but myself as an equestrian would be disappointed to see it dropped. If a horse doesn't want to do something, trust me they won't. I have experienced several horses saying no in various ways. The moves horses perform in dressage are very natural moves that the horse will often do in the paddock given a chance. A horse will naturally jump any obstacle in front of them. Many horses do enjoy being ridden and many enjoy competing. Just because they aren't human doesn't mean they aren't allowed to enjoy these things like we do. Yes I'm aware theres top level riders who don't train nicely, but there are different techniques for everything and somethings are nicer than others. This doesn't make it acceptable to be cruel to a horse, but what I'm saying is why punish everyone in a sport, including myself who is aiming for the 2020 or 2024 Olympics, just because a handful don't ride correctly? It could also be the way they were taught as a young rider. I have bad habits that i was taught as a rider that i have to be aware of because they will come back otherwise Equestrian is a difficult sport where both athletes (horse and rider) have to work together to create a harmony, making everything look easy when the truth is its mega hard. It takes years of skill and hard work and there are other sports that could be deopped before equestrian is. Also, equestrian brings a lot of people into the Olympics and dropping it would cause a lot of people to no longer be interested. Each to their own but that's my opinion on how i feel
• Dressage Fortherestofus Steph (2016)
  Why? Because the FEI and by default the IOC is doing nothing about it. To say that only "some" of the horses are abused so horse events should stay does a great disservice to horses and ethical training everywhere. If the FEI/IOC cannot recognize and stop abuse because they WANT to, then they are not competent to protect horses and shouldn't go around pretending to be.
• Keep equestrian Eilidh Somerville (2016)
  But there have also been some beautiful displays, why punish the people doing the right thing for the wrong doings of others?
• Elizabeth martin (2015)
  I don't think that Equestrian sports should be dropped they have been in the Olympics from the very beginning.
• Eventer101 Elizabeth martin (2016)
  I agree, and if people's stupid reasoning of why it should be it bc " the horse is the athlete" then it should be keepted in bc the olypics are for sports and sports have athletes so that makes equestrian a sport and its been in the Olympics since the beginning so why take it out😂😂 everyone who says it should need to go to Rolex and they will change their minds😂😂
• I think since the req. says drugs or corruption it should be cycling because of the recent scandals revealing not just Lance A. as using enhancement drugs, it fits the req. for being removed (from C. Bourque, Mar 2013)
• Why we add F1-Formula car race in upcoming Olympic Games as an event (from senthilkumar. N, Dec 2012)
• I think we should get better Equestrian sports. Being a professional Equestrian myself, it upsets me that most people want to drop it. I think the horses AND riders should both get awards. (from Abby, Sept 2012)
• I like the Olympics as it is!! (from belsie, Aug 2012)
• Drop equestrian the horses are the athlete! Drop table tennis it's all reflex no strength no running or jumping, drop shooting except for the Americans who's interested in guns. Bring back tug of war. One of the nations sports to be able to say we are the strongest countries and it's cheap to do!!!! (from Greg, Aug 2012)
• I think several events should be dropped, but i was only allowed to vote on one. An Olympic event should be something characterized as requiring human strength, agility, endurance on or off a team. I hardly think synchronized diving or swimming, ping pong, riding a bicycle qualify as an 'event'. Nor skeet shooting, jumping on a trampoline, basketball (which has its own tournaments), tennis (the same). Canoeing? That's something that the boy scouts do or avid outdoorsman. Ribbing dancing? Really? That's absurd. Why don't we just add hopscotch? Just because some people get together to compete, doesn't mean it deserves a gold medal. (from d. ortego austin, tx, 16 Aug 2012)
• All artistic events should be removed and put into a separate Olympics. Remove all events that are based on style, beauty, costumes, etc. Reduce Variants of same sport, events based on one, two, four participants doing the same thing.  Why have synchronized diving? By piling sports upon sports we are making it impossible for less wealthy countries to stage the games. (from Frank, Aug 2012)
• I chose sync. swimming simply because its looks ridiculous but for the 2012 Olympics I also think that BMX racing is a pile of rubbish ... (from sean, 14 Aug 2012)
• Football, stupid tournament which no one watches or cares about and with the wrong players (from Chreo34, Aug 2012)
• Any event where judges determine the final result should be dropped.  The Olympics should be athletic competitions, not artistic competitions. (from Jake, Aug 2012)
• Tennis should be excluded because it's played by professionals who have enough competitions to take part in. (from Mike, Aug 2012)
• Equestrian is not a sport. A bunch of rich people strutting their wealth. Dump it! (from mike, Aug 2012)
  • @mike If you are not an equestrian you have no right to say that. It is much more than that. My horse is one of my greatest treasures, and she is like a sister to me. We work together, and I always reward her when she does good. I never EVER hit her, or whip her, even if she messes up, I mean honestly, I screw up all the time too! Don't judge a book by its cover. Keep Equine sports (from Abby, Sept 2012)
• Equestrian sports should NOT be dropped!! It is a sport for both horse and human. Dog agility should also be added, in my opinion, that is more of a sport than the equestrians. (from Kirsten Lang, Aug 2012)
• "My only focus was the Olympics because in my sport, that is the ultimate."  is one of the Olympic quotes you have. Sports like Golf, Tennis Football all have their own major events get back to the original principles of the Olympics and stop trying to make money. (from Larry Jones, July 2012)
• I respect the people who are involved in Equestrian but I believe this is giving the coach or trainer the opportunity to be in the Olympics as opposed to the athlete (in this case an animal) (from Azure, June 2012)
• I chose equestrian based on my view of the Olympics to be about showcasing human accomplishments, even though the horses don't prepare themselves. (from James, Cardiff UK, March 2011)