PARIS, July 26 (Xinhua) -- The Paris Olympic Games which are inaugurated this Friday see more than 10,000 competitors from over 200 countries and regions compete in 329 different events, but if every sport that has ever existed in the history of the Olympic Games were still included, the number would be much larger.
Some former Olympic sports have fallen out of fashion, some only had a limited scope to begin with and some could push for future inclusion. Here are some events which were included in past Olympic Games, but won't be seen in Paris.
Basque pelota is still hugely popular in the Basque region of northern Spain and southern France, but it only had a brief history as an Olympic event in Paris 1900.
Unsurprisingly, only two teams took part, with Spain beating France in the final, which was also the only game in the competition.
The 1900 Games saw several events make their only appearance in an Olympiad, with underwater swimming, which may be fun to practice in the municipal pool, but was considered to be lacking as a spectator sport.
The Plunge for distance diving competition, also looked to see who could travel the furthest distance underwater after diving from the side of the pool: William Dickey's 19.05-meter effort, will remain forever the best distance achieved at this event.
Croquet made its only appearance in Paris but also failed to capture the imagination when only one person turned up to watch the events - an Englishman who apparently traveled up from Nice especially to do so.
The 2,000-meter tandem cycling event must have been worth seeing, as a bike with two people on it raced around a track at high speed. That event ended in 1970 because... well, when was the last time you saw anyone on a tandem? although they are still used in paralympic events.
The 100-meter 'Running Deer' shooting event fell out of favor after 1948 and would certainly not be popular in these days of environmental awareness and sustainability, although competitors didn't shoot at an actually deer, rather a target in the shape of a deer, pulled across a range. To be honest it wasn't an event open to most people either given that deer shooting and (and is) the preserve of the very wealthy (and cruel).
Plenty of athletics event have also disappeared, with the two-handed discus and javelin putting in brief appearances in 1912. Rather than actually using both hands to make their throws (which would have been almost physically impossible) the events saw athletes make one throw with their left hand and one with their right, with the longest total distance declared the winner.
Events from a standing start, such as high jump, long jump and triple jump have all come and gone, for the main reason that you can jump much higher and longer if you take a run up.
The Tug of War (teams of eight pulling against each other on a rope) was one of the events in Ancient Greece and appeared in six of the first seven Olympiads, before being dropped after 1920.
The sport generated plenty of controversy, but none more so that in 1908, when in a clear attempt to gain an advantage over the rivals, the Liverpool Police team, competed in boots that were so heavy they could barely walk, allowing them to almost 'dig-in' to their ground.
Rules were subsequently changed so that athletes subsequently had to compete in 'ordinary shoes'.
Cricket, perhaps the most English of sports, was also an Olympic event, with England defeating France in 1900, although the French team mainly consisted of people who mostly worked at the British Embassy in Paris.
Cricket is of course now played all around the world, with huge global TV audiences and the sport will return in Los Angeles in 2028. ■
