Weirdest Olympic Sports of All Time
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Let's begin with one clarifying thought. When we say something is weird, it doesn't mean it's bad. More like … so strange it's captivating.
Nowhere have "weird" sports been given more of a stage to shine than at the Olympics, where organizers have taken their chances on unusual, lesser-known sports since the first Olympic Games in 1896.
Some of those sports have worked out really well. Others, not so much. These are the weirdest Olympic sports of all time.
30. Badminton
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Olympic sport: 1972, 1988-present
Country of origin: United Kingdom
Most gold medals: China (20)
Bottom Line: Badminton
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The Chinese have taken badminton and turned it into a sport they dominate on a worldwide level — they won five gold medals at the 2012 Olympics in badminton alone.
For the rest of the world, this is a sport that you probably grew up playing on the front lawn in the summertime — usually after a barbecue or a long day at the pool.
That being said, just go ahead and watch Olympic badminton for about 30 seconds to realize this isn't the sport you think you know as the birdie moves at lightning speed.
29. Skateboarding
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Olympic sport: 2021-present
Country of origin: United States
Most gold medals: Japan (3)
Bottom Line: Skateboarding
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The fact that skateboarding is an official Olympic sport is owed in no small part to The X Games and the proliferation of the sport on video games — and to the success of snowboarding at the Winter Olympics.
The big question now is if skateboarding will have the same kind of staying power as snowboarding has at the Olympics. As many sports that have come and gone from the Olympics can attest to (like baseball, for example), there's no guarantee you'll always be an Olympic sport.
28. Water Motorsports
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Olympic sport: 1908
Country of origin: Great Britain and Ireland
Most gold medals: Great Britain (2)
Bottom Line: Water Motorsports
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They only ran the water motorsports portion of the Olympics once, in 1908, when primitive motorboats went out into a 40 nautical mile race. There were three divisions for the boats, and in each division, the gold medal winner was the only boat that finished.
Great Britain has been accused of gaming the 1908 Olympics, which were held in London, by adding sports they knew their countrymen would have a big advantage in. This was one of them.
27. Handball
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Olympic sport: 1936, 1952, 1972-present
Country of origin: Greece
Most gold medals: Soviet Union (4), Denmark (4)
Bottom Line: Handball
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If you've never watched a handball match, do yourself a favor and check one out. Because for as weird as it is, it's also exciting.
For some reason, this is a sport that's never caught on in the United States but has been an Olympic mainstay since 1936 — Americans have never even medaled in the event.
Does anyone else think it might be cool to round up a group of former NBA, MLB and NFL players to see how they might do with a year of training? We're already predicting a bronze medal.
26. Bowling
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Olympic sport: 1988, 1996
Country of origin: Egypt
Most gold medals: N/A
Bottom Line: Bowling
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You would think because we have curling in the Winter Olympics that it wouldn't be too far-fetched to have bowling in the Summer Olympics, but aside from a couple of demonstration events in Seoul in 1988 and Atlanta in 1996, it's never really been considered.
There are great bowlers all over the world, so it wouldn't be hard to get the very best of them together every four years. And the cost of that new, Olympic bowling alley is going to pale in comparison to an actual stadium.
25. Basque Pelota
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Olympic sport: 1900, 1924, 1968, 1992
Country of origin: Spain
Most gold medals: Spain (1)
Bottom Line: Basque Pelota
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This weird mix of jai alai, lacrosse, handball and racquetball is truly something to behold. Basque Pelota has made its way into the Olympics as an official sport just once, in 1900, then three more times as a demonstration sport.
One weird fact about the 1900 Olympics and basque pelota — there were only two teams entered. One dropped out, and the gold medal went to Spain.
24. Hurling
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Olympic sport: 1904
Country of origin: Ireland
Most gold medals: United States (1)
Bottom Line: Hurling
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This jacked-up, violent version of field hockey was only in the Olympics once, in 1904, and the United States brought home the gold medal.
Hurling looks like it would be a fun game to play, but it has some pretty crazy rules — mainly that you can't take more than four steps before bouncing the ball off the turf in some form. What's really wild about hurling is you don't just use your stick to advance the ball ... you can use your foot, hand, head ... whatever you need.
23. Fencing
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Olympic sport: 1896-present
Country of origin: Germany
Most gold medals: Italy (49)
Bottom Line: Fencing
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It will never not be weird to see two people dueling like it's The Count of Monte Cristo for sport. Hand-to-hand, armored combat goes back to the beginning of mankind so you can make a great argument that this is one of the more ancient sports.
As weird as fencing might seem to some of us, it's not going anywhere anytime soon. It's one of the few sports that's been on the official Olympic program since the first games in 1896.
22. Jeu de Paume (Real Tennis)
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Olympic sport: 1900, 1908
Country of origin: France
Most gold medals: United States (1)
Bottom Line: Jeu de Paume
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If you've ever seen the Showtime series "The Tudors," you'll know Jeu de Paume as the sport King Henry was obsessed with — and the one Jonathan Rhys-Myers and Henry Cavill are playing in the pilot episode.
It's essentially the very first version of tennis and is played on a hard court, inside. The first courts were thought to be made of wood.
21. Motor Racing
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Olympic sport: 1900
Country of origin: France
Most gold medals: France (18)
Bottom Line: Motor Racing
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There were only two Olympic games where motorsports were part of the program — cars in 1900 and boats in 1908.
This sport qualifies as weird because it does beg the question as to how an international sport like F1 racing or stock car racing, with its fame gone worldwide, has never considered another run at being an Olympic sport.
20. Table Tennis
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Olympic sport: 1988-present
Country of origin: United Kingdom
Most gold medals: China (32)
Bottom Line: Table Tennis
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Who doesn't love ping pong? Even if we have to call it table tennis for the Olympics?
The Chinese love it, too, and have dominated both the men's and women's versions of the sport. And if you've ever watched table tennis played at the Olympic level, expect to be wowed by the pace of play.
In an interesting twist, the country that invented the sport, Great Britain, has never medaled in it.
19. Surfing
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Olympic sport: 2021-present
Country of origin: Polynesia
Most gold medals: Brazil (1),United States (1)
Bottom Line: Surfing
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Surfing made its long-awaited, highly anticipated debut at the 2021 Olympics. It's a sport that was gestating for a long time to become an Olympic sport.
What's weirdly cool about the surfing competition is that it's given 16 days to compete to get a feel for the weather, but once the competition starts, they have two days to finish. With the advent of wave pools — ones that can generate actual, huge waves, the question of whether we should try and incorporate that kind of technology should be asked.
We'll still keep watching.
18. Sport Climbing
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Olympic sport: 2021-present
Country of origin: United States
Most gold medals: Spain (1), Slovenia (1)
Bottom Line: Sport Climbing
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We're still not sure how sport climbing became an Olympic sport, but it was on the program for the first time in 2021.
Sport climbing translated pretty well to a television audience, and we applaud it for its simple approach — one event for men, one event for women with the best performer in three disciplines of lead climbing, speed climbing and bouldering awarded the gold medal.
17. Croquet
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Olympic sport: 1900-04
Country of origin: United States
Most gold medals: France (1), United States (1)
Bottom Line: Croquet
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This bougie "sport" has been gone from the Olympics for over 100 years, and it's more of a testament to the time that it was ever an Olympic sport in the first place.
Ever played croquet? It's fun, but it's not exactly the pinnacle of physical exertion or concentration, even. Our best guess is that there just weren't a lot of sports you could pull off back in the day, so croquet made the cut a couple of times.
16. Judo/Karate/Taekwondo
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Olympic sport: 1964, 1972-present
Country of origin: Japan
Most gold medals: Japan (49)
Bottom Line: Judo/Karate/Taekwondo
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Don't tell anyone who actually knows judo, karate or taekwondo that we called it weird, lest they try and demonstrate the sport on us.
Judo is weird in its brutality. Just like in boxing, the competitors are required to wear headgear. But the brutal, spinning kicks and throws are something to behold.
That taekwondo survived this moment at the Olympics and is still in the Games is pretty remarkable.
15. BMX
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Olympic sport: 2008-present
Country of origin: United States
Most gold medals: Latvia (2), Colombia (2)
Bottom Line: BMX
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If you grew up in the 1980s, BMX riding was a phenomenon, and if you were lucky enough to catch the 1984 movie "Rad," then you really know what's up.
It's interesting that BMX racing and freestyle made it into the Olympics a full decade before skateboarding did. Credit ESPN's ultra-popular X-Games, once again, for this sport getting added to the Olympics.
14. Synchronized Swimming
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Olympic sport: 1984-present
Country of origin: Germany
Most gold medals: Russia (33)
Bottom Line: Synchronized Swimming
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There is something weirdly wonderful about getting to take in synchronized swimming every four years at the Olympics. The grace and athleticism it takes to pull off some of those routines and maneuvers defy the mind.
How these athletes are able to make this look so, well, synchronized, is still beyond us. We just know how much we enjoy it.
13. 3-on-3 Basketball
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Olympic sport: 2021-present
Country of origin: United States
Most gold medals: Latvia (1)
Bottom Line: 3-on-3 Basketball
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The first time you hear that 3-on-3 basketball is an Olympic sport, we're sure your mind drifts to those fun days of playing at the local park or in the local gym.
That's not what this is. This version of 3-on-3 happens at a breakneck speed and is actually pretty fun to watch — weird to think it's actually an Olympic sport but fun all the same.
12. Trampoline
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Olympic sport: 2000-present
Country of origin: United States
Most gold medals: Canada (4)
Bottom Line: Trampoline
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Trampoline has been on the Olympic program for two decades now, and in the biggest testament to its weirdness, the Canadians have dominated the sport with four gold medals in that span.
It begs the question of if doing tricks on a trampoline should really be an Olympic sport — especially when you understand that the actual gymnasts competing in the Olympics use trampolines to train on?
What's next, Pop-A-Shot becoming an Olympic sport for the world's best 3-point shooters?
11. Water Skiing
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Olympic sport: 1972
Country of origin: United States
Most gold medals: United States (3)
Bottom Line: Water Skiing
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Add water skiing to the list of motor-based sports that the Olympics said "thanks but no thanks" to after it was included as a demonstration sport at the 1972 Olympics.
Americans took home gold medals in three of the six events — there were three men's events and three women's events — with 11-time world champion Ricky McCormick bringing home two gold medals for the U.S.
10. American Football
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Olympic sport: 1904, 1932
Country of origin: United States
Most gold medals: N/A
Bottom Line: American Football
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Americans have been trying to shove our form of football down the throats of other nations for over 100 years, starting with exhibitions at the 1904 Olympic Games ... then again in exhibitions at the 1932 Olympic Games.
There's something to be said for being determined to spread your sport to the world, but our brutal, violent take on what was once soccer, or rugby, is not what anybody else is into.
Hey, at least we have those NFL games at Wembley Stadium now.
9. Roller Hockey
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Olympic sport: 1992
Country of origin: England
Most gold medals: Argentina (1)
Bottom Line: Roller Hockey
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It's like hockey ... but with rollerblades. Get it?
We're not sure how roller hockey ever made it into the Olympics as a demonstration sport, which Argentina won the gold medal in during the 1992 games.
If you think about the time the sport hit the Olympics, it probably makes more sense. Rollerblading was never more popular than in the 1990s.
8. Korfball
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Olympic sport: 1920, 1928
Country of origin: Netherlands
Most gold medals: N/A
Bottom Line: Korfball
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Korfball is kind of what it looks like — a lot like basketball.
What's especially cool about korfball, and why we would like to see it make an Olympic comeback, is that each team features eight players — half of which are typically male and the other half, female. Can you imagine?
It's reportedly played by about 100,000 people around the world, but if korfball ever needs someone as its face, we suggest they support Oscar-winning actress Charlize Theron, who grew up playing the sport in South Africa.
7. Kaatsen
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Olympic sport: 1928
Country of origin: Netherlands
Most gold medals: N/A
Bottom Line: Kaatsen
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No reason to front ... Kaatsen looks like fun. It's also thought to be one of the oldest sports that people ever played with a ball.
How does Kaatsen work? It's best described as a combination of handball, tennis, volleyball and baseball, which is played in a miniature Hogwarts/Quidditch-style arena setting. Feel free to check it out for yourself.
6. Gliding
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Olympic sport: 1936
Country of origin: Germany
Most gold medals: Hungary (1)
Bottom Line: Gliding
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If you think the reason that gliding was only featured in one Olympics was because of how dangerous it was, you'd be wrong.
The Finnish/Russian War was what stopped it from being on the Olympic program in 1940, but you also wouldn't be wrong about it being dangerous. The sport was actually banned by the International Olympic Committee when an Austrian glider, Ignaz Stiefsohn, was killed in a crash during practice just days before the main competition was set to begin.
5. Glima
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Olympic sport: 1912
Country of origin: Iceland
Most gold medals: N/A
Bottom Line: Glima
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In the most basic terms, this is wrestling in which you can only use the other person's belt or waist to flip or throw them down, which is pretty brutal when you see it in practice.
While there are more aggressive versions of glima out there, the Icelandic sport is in its most pure forms when two competitors face off with special-made belts. As wrestling evolved into its current form, glima fell off. Not to say we wouldn't like to see this one make a comeback.
4. Surf Lifesaving
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Olympic sport: 1900
Country of origin: England
Most gold medals: N/A
Bottom Line: Surf Lifesaving
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Of all the borderline sports on this list, we can definitely see how Surf Lifesaving made it to the list, but in our minds, it just defaults to the "Best Lifeguard" award, which they actually do have competitions for.
You can make a good case that this event, which competed just once in the 1900 Olympics, was a precursor to the modern-day triathlon. It's still strange to think they did it at the Olympics, though.
3. Ballooning
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Olympic sport: 1900
Country of origin: France
Most gold medals: N/A
Bottom Line: Ballooning
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The 1900 Olympic Games in St. Louis were paired up with the World Fair and led to hot-air balloon races being part of the program.
This was in an era where the Olympic organizers were willing to take a lot more chances with competitors' lives — they were doing motorsports in antiquated boats and cars as well, along with a gliding event even, in 1936, that seemed like death on a stick.
2. Live Pigeon Shooting
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Olympic sport: 1900
Country of origin: United Kingdom
Most gold medals: Great Britain (1), Belgium (1)
Bottom Line: Live Pigeon Shooting
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If you're looking for one of the weirdest, darkest moments in Olympic history, please look no further than the 1900 Olympics when live pigeon shooting was part of the program.
You read that correctly. They killed live pigeons for an Olympic event. Shooters were eliminated after they missed two birds, and over 300 birds were killed in the event. Even at that time, this sparked major outrage and was officially canceled as an Olympic event by 1902.
1. Tug of War
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Olympic sport: 1900-20
Country of origin: China or Greece
Most gold medals: Great Britain (2)
Bottom Line: Tug of War
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Believe it or not, tug of war was an actual event in five consecutive Olympic games, the first being in 1900 and the last being in 1920.
It's weird, even in 2021, to see people doing tug of war — whether at a company picnic or a family barbecue. The sport in its Olympic form had some strange rules, like countries entering multiple teams. In 1904, teams from the United States won gold, silver and bronze.
Nothing could compare to 1908, though, when the London City Police put together a team that brought home the gold medal in their home city.
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