T here will be 32 sports at the Paris Summer Olympic Games (Jul. 26-Aug. 11). While some events—such as fencing , swimming , and tennis —date back to the original Olympics in 1896 , there are some newer events like breaking, skateboarding, surfing, and sport climbing.
TIME looks back at some of the wackiest sports that made appearances at past Olympics, either as official sports or as part of demonstrations. They may not be Olympic sports , but some still boast a dedicated following. For example, in March, the Associated Press profiled America’s premier skijoring competition , which has occurred every year in Colorado since 1949.
Below are five of the most unusual sports that have taken place at the Olympics over the past century, as featured in Total Olympics, the trivia book by sports journalist Jeremy Fuchs.
Plunge for the distance
At the 1904 Olympics in St. Louis, divers were judged by how far they floated without moving for 60 seconds. American swimmer William Paul Dickey won the contest, boasting a plunge of 62 feet and six inches. As the New York Times summed up the general criticism of the sport back then: “mere mountains of fat who fall in the water more or less successfully and depend upon inertia to get their points for them.”
Live pigeon shooting
During this bird-brained event at the 1900 games in Paris, live pigeons were set free in the air and competitors had to kill as many as possible to win. It was like trap shooting with live animals. Belgium’s Leon de Lunden won the gold medal, and about 300 pigeons were killed that day. That was the last time live animals were used in an Olympic sporting event, but there will be other shooting events at the Olympics.
Skijoring
In this Norwegian sport, a horse, dog, or snowmobile drags a skier on a snowy oval track. For a demonstration at the 1928 winter games in St. Moritz, Switzerland, horses pulled contestants across a frozen lake. The Swiss dominated. While the founding father of the Olympics Pierre de Coubertin thought the sport was particularly cool, it never made another appearance in an Olympics.
Firefighting
The hottest event at the 1900 Olympics was a demonstration in which a fire was staged, and competitors had to put it out. Portuguese volunteer firefighters won a gold medal in the amateur contest and Kansas City firefighters won a gold medal in the professional contest.
Running deer
In this event that debuted at the 1908 London Olympics, cardboard cutouts of deer moved across a distance of 75 feet in four seconds, and the competitors had either one or two chances to shoot it. The top competitor was Oscar Swahn, who nabbed three golds, a silver, and two bronze medals in this event. He was also the oldest athlete to win an Olympic gold, and won his final medal at the age of 72 at the 1920 Antwerp Summer Olympics. The last running deer event took place during the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki.
Write to Olivia B. Waxman at olivia.waxman@time.com .
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