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Past Sports of the Olympics

There are currently 32 sports on the program at the Paris Olympic Games, though the number has generally increased over time. It is surprising the large number and variety of sports and events that have at one time been officially part of the Olympic Games. There are also many sports that have been demonstration sports, and some of these have made it onto the official program too.

Ray Ewry performing a standing high-jump
from: The Official Sport of the Olympic Games of 1908

Discontinued Olympic Sports

Since the first modern Olympic Games in 1896, as many as ten sports have disappeared completely from the schedule, such as croquet, cricket (returning in LA 2028), jeu de paume, pelota, polo, roque, rackets, tug-of-war and motor boating. The Winter Olympics also has a few sports and events that have been discontinued.

The most recent sports to become discontinued are baseball and softball which were dropped from the 2012 Games (but were back again for Tokyo 2020). This was the first time in 69 years that a sport itself had been removed from the Olympic program, with the previously dropped sport polo removed in 1936.

In 2021, the martial art of Karate made an appearance, but was dropped again for the next Olympics. Breakdancing will make its debut in 2024, but will quickly become a discontinued sport after being dropped from the program for the 2028 Olympics. The long time discontinued sports of lacrosse and cricket are set to make a comeback at the 2028 LA Olympics.

Discontinued Events

As well as sports themselves being dropped from the Olympics, there are many more events or sporting disciplines that have been removed from sports that are still on the program, such as the swimming events of plunge for distance and underwater swimming, the track and field events of the standing highjump and tug-of-war, and the shooting events of running deer and dueling pistol.

There are many more, you can have a look at the complete list of all discontinued sports, or my list of some the more unusual sports.

Related Pages

• See also the section on Olympic Games demonstration sports.
• Discontinued multi-sport events — a large list of multi-sport events from around the world that are no longer held.
• Discontinued Paralympic Sports
• If you are searching for more information, see the Resources section or try these Books on Olympic History.
• For information about sports currently on the Olympic program, see the Olympic Games Summer Sports and Winter Sports pages.
• Try our Discontinued Olympic Events Quiz as part of the Olympic Games Quiz Questions.
• Discontinued Sporting Events — some of the major sporting events that are no longer held.
• Read about other major World Sporting Events.
• Read the Olympics entries on the sporting blog.
• Olympic symbols and images in the clipart section.
• Videos of Olympic Games Discontinued Sports and Demonstration Sports.
• Unusual Sports and New Sports
• Olympic Games fun

Any comments, suggestions, or corrections? Please let us know.