Tug-of-war, obstacle courses, live pigeon shooting: Reliving quirky sports in Olympic history

Source: AP (7-8-08)If you've been swimming, you probably tried it at least once: Dive into the water and see how far you can get without taking a stroke. Coast past 19 meters (62 feet) and you could have earned a gold medal at the 1904 Olympics. The tug-of-war you played with friends at school? That could have been worth a podium spot at six Games. A gym class favorite like the rope climb and a game that looked like hopscotch — the standing hop, step, jump — also were once medal events. Long before the corporate sponsorships and billion-dollar(euro) television deals, the Olympic Games were more like games kids might play in the backyard. Some of the events may seem a bit strange — club swinging, anyone? — but there was certainly a fun factor to the early days of the Olympics. "It's was a different thing, kind of catch as... [read full story]