The oldest sports in the Olympics: which disciplines have been contested the longest?

The Games of the I Olympiad (Athens, from April 6 to 15, 1896) brought 241 athletes, all men – women did not debut until Paris ‘1900 -, and from 14 countries excluding Spain. 43 competitions in nine sports were held and are still on the program. These are athletics, cycling, fencing, gymnastics, weightlifting, wrestling, swimming, tennis and shooting.

Most of them remained unchanged in the program of the Olympic Games except for tennis, which due to the disagreement between the ITF and the IOC was left between Amsterdam’1928 and Seoul’1988, to which it officially returned after Los Angeles’ 1984 show.

At the First Congress of the International Olympic Committee held at the Sorbonne in Paris in 1894, a large number of sports were proposed for the Athens program and not all of the first announced were on the final list. Eleven sports passed the screening, the nine mentioned including rowing and sailing, but had to be canceled due to high winds on the day of the competition.

Athletics

No one disputes that it is the king of sport at the Olympic Games and the legendary Panathenaic Stadium continues to be one of the Greek capital’s tourist attractions today. The American James Connolly He showed his versatility by winning the triple jump and being chronologically the first Olympic champion in 1,503 years, was second in the high jump and third in the long jump. Your countryman Tom Burke He was the first Olympic 100 meter champion with 12″0 and also won the 400 m. But the hero was Spyridon Louisa water seller on the streets of Athens, by winning the marathon.

The athletics program of the first Olympics included 100, 400, 800 and 1,500 meters, marathon, 110 meter hurdles, high jump, pole vault, long and triple jump and shot put and discus and all of them are kept in the current program.

Cycling

There is only one road test, an 87 kilometer race from Athens to Marathon, round trip. Track events include individual speed – the only one that remains in the current program -, time trial, 10 km, 100 km and 12 hour races.

Track cycling is present in all editions of the modern Olympic Games, except Stockholm’1912. Women competed for the first time on the track in Seoul’1988 and only in Los Angeles’1984 did they debut on the road.

Fencing

The first Olympic fencing competition had three men’s events: individual foil, professional individual foil and individual saber. In the men’s category the sword was not introduced until the following edition of Paris’1900.

Women’s foil jumped onto the program in Paris’1924 and was the only one in which women competed until Atlanta’96 when women’s epee and saber entered.

gym

In the first Olympics there were six individual events and two team events. These are individual parallel bars, pony vault, fixed bars, rings, pommel horse and rope climbing and teams Fixed bars and parallel bars. The land was not introduced until Los Angeles’1932. It was not until Amsterdam’1928 that women’s events were introduced.

Lifting

The sport of weightlifting is divided into two modalities regardless of body weight: one-handed lifting and two-handed lifting. It was not until Antwerp’1920 that they were structured by weight and the number of classes varied. Women’s participation did not begin until Sydney’2000.

struggle

The first Olympic wrestling event was an open category of Greco-Roman wrestling and from London’1908 it remained permanent in the program. For its part, men’s wrestling began in San Luis in 1904 and since Antwerp in 1920 it has been a fixture of the program. Women’s wrestling did not enter until Athens’2004.

swimming

At that time, swimming was done in the open sea and in Athens, in particular, with really low temperatures (10ºC) and waves four meters high. The legendary Hungarian swimmer, footballer and athlete Alfred Hajos He became the first Olympic swimming champion, winning the 100 and 1,200 meter freestyle and missing the 500 m. free because they schedule it immediately after the 100. In addition to these three events there is a 100 meter free only for members of the Greek Royal Navy.

In London’1908 the tests were held in a swimming pool, in Paris’1924 the lanes and the Olympic length of 50 meters were included. Women did not begin competing until Stockholm in 1912. Melbourne’1956 was when the butterfly and breaststroke styles were separated.

Tennis

The first Olympic tennis tournament was played on clay courts with two men’s events, singles and doubles. But after Paris’1924 it was removed from the Olympic program and they only returned – first as an exhibition sport in Los Angeles’1984 – permanently from Seoul’1988, with men and women singles and doubles, which also allowed with the participation of professional tennis players. Mixed doubles last played in Paris’1924 was not brought back until London’2012.

Shot down

The first Olympic shooting tournament consisted of five categories: military rifle at 200 meters, free rifle at 300 meters in three positions, military pistol at 25 meters, rapid pistol at 25 meters and free pistol at 30 meters. Shooting is only missing from the Olympic program in Saint Louis in 1904 and Amsterdam in 1928 and it consists of 21 events in Antwerp in 1920. Women participated for the first time in Mexico’1968 and Margaret Murdock In Montreal’1976, she became the first woman to reach the Olympic podium in shooting (three-position rifle), losing the gold to her compatriot Lanny Bassham by tiebreaker. Nor with tests in the women’s category until Los Angeles’1984.