The Olympic Games are often presented as the pinnacle of tradition, discipline, and athletic excellence. But the early Olympics were far less polished—and far stranger—than the spectacle we recognize today.
In this episode of Smartest Year Ever, Gordy explores the weirdest Olympic events in history, from forgotten competitions that vanished after a single appearance to experimental sports that barely resembled athletics at all. Long before the modern Olympics settled into their familiar format, organizers were aggressively experimenting, blurring the line between serious sport and chaotic novelty.
This episode dives into bizarre Olympic swimming events, controversial competitions, artistic medals, and abandoned sports that reveal how unstable and experimental the Games once were. Along the way, Gordy examines how shifting ideas about athleticism, professionalism, safety, and spectacle quietly shaped what the Olympics eventually became—and what they left behind.
If you think modern Olympic events are strange, this episode offers a reminder: it used to be much weirder.
Music thanks to Zapsplat.
Sources:
International Olympic Committee. The Olympic Games: History and Past Sports. Lausanne: IOC.
Mallon, B. (2000). The 1900 Olympic Games: Results for All Competitors in All Events. Jefferson, NC: McFarland.
Mallon, B., & Widlund, T. (1998). The 1904 Olympic Games: Results for All Competitors in All Events. Jefferson, NC: McFarland.
Mallon, B. (2006). The 1906 Intercalated Games. Jefferson, NC: McFarland.
Mallon, B., Heijmans, J., & Buchanan, I. (2011). Historical Dictionary of the Olympic Movement (4th ed.). Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press.
Wallechinsky, D., & Loucky, J. (2012). The Complete Book of the Olympics. London: Aurum Press.
International Olympic Committee. Olympic Art Competitions (1912–1948). IOC Historical Archives.
Smithsonian Magazine. The Strange History of the Olympics’ Art Competitions.
BBC Magazine. Olympic Sports That No Longer Exist.
Encyclopaedia Britannica. Olympic Games.
Library of Congress. The 1900 Paris Exposition and the Olympic Games.
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