The Olympics had lots of games, which are no
longer included in today's Olympics. The games,
which were once a part of the Olympics, are golf,
polo, rugby, tug-of-war, cricket, croquet, jeu de
paume, power boating, rackets, rink-hockey,
lacrosse, basque pelote, roque, and water skiing.
Golf is one of the finest games in the world and is
played in almost hundred countries of the world. It
has been considered as an international game from
the mid-19th century. Golf was held in the 1900 and
1904 Olympics. In the 1900 Olympics, there were
separate games for men and women.
Polo is the oldest mounted sport, dating back to
many centuries. It is believed to have originated in
Asia especially in India, China and ancient Persia.
Polo was part of the Olympic games in 1900, 1908,
1920, 1924 and 1936.
Two teams who use netted sticks to pass and catch
the rubber ball in order to score play lacrosse.
Cricket is the second popular game in the world and
it is supposed to have originated in the thirteenth
century. Two teams consisting of eleven members who
play it using a bat, ball and wicket play this game.
The match is played on a flat and open grass long
strip of field named as pitch. Stumps are three
vertical wooden sticks placed parallel to each
other, at both the ends of the pitch and two small
wooden pieces are placed on top the three sticks.
This structure is known as the wicket. The bowler,
from the fielding team, aims a leather ball at one
of the wickets. The batsman, from the opposing team,
tries to hit the ball away from the wicket, with the
help of a wooden bat. The other team members of the
fielding team spread themselves on the field in
order to catch the ball, which was hit by the
batsman. If they are successful in catching the ball
before it hits the ground, the batsman is out. In
the meanwhile, after hitting the ball with the bat,
the batsman runs from one wicket to another and the
numbers of runs made are counted. The winning teams
scores the maximum number of runs.
Croquet is a game of French origin. It utilizes a
mallet and balls and is played in a grass arena. The
mallet through hoops, which are planted in the
field, hits the balls. It was part of the 1900
Summer Olympics. Roque is the American version of
croquet. It was included in the 1904 United States
Summer Olympics.
Initially tug-of-war was considered as a product of
the track and field athletics program, but later it
was given the status of a separate sport. Tug-of-war
was included in the Olympic games of 1900, 1904,
1906, 1908, 1912, and 1920.
Jue de paume means game of palm and is the French
version of lawn tennis. It is played without
racquets, as the player hits the ball with his
hands. Jue de paume was added in the 1908 Summer
Olympics.
In Basque pelote, two opponents team face each other
and there is a net between the two. Both the team
exchange ball and if one player drops the ball, the
other team scores. It is also similar to lawn
tennis. It was supposed to have originated in the
Greek era. In the 1900 Paris Olympic games, Basque
pelote was a part of it.
Rugby is the earlier versions of football; here the
ball is not carried but kicked. It originated in
mid-19th century in Britain. The rugby union was
considered to be beginner version where as rugby
league was considered to be the professional
version. In 1995, rugby union was made an open sport
by the International Rugby Board. Rugby union was a
part of the 1900, 1908, 1920 and 1924 Olympics
games. Water skiing started in 1922. The athletes
straps boards on their feet and get pulled by a
powerboat around a set of course.
