The Olympic Games is one of the greatest sporting competitions in the world. Every four years the greatest athletes on the planet come together for their country.  Their aim is simple: win a gold medal and become a national hero. Over 200 nations are represented at the event, sending their best athletes to compete. The selection of sports continues to change and expand each year. The 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games saw sports such as surfing, skateboarding, and sport climbing represented for the first time. These are quite different from the sports most people associate with the Olympic Games. But these are nowhere near the weirdest Olympic sports included. 

Since the inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, Greece, there have been many weird and wonderful sports. These sports aren’t necessarily bad, just different from what you would expect to see at the Olympic Games. Many of these weird Olympic sports, such as rope climbing and the horse long jump, didn’t last long, understandably, while others are still going strong today. 

We want to highlight some of these strange, interesting, and downright bizarre Olympic Sports and have compiled a list of them below. Read on and discover some of the weirdest Olympic sports of all time. 

1. Race Walking

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It’s hard to believe that walking is an Olympic sport. Something we do every day is actually a verified sport that is still held at the Olympic Games today. Of course, it is not as easy as it sounds. There are two main rules competitors must adhere to. The first is that their back toe doesn’t leave the ground until the heel of the front foot has touched the ground. Breaking this rule is known as loss of contact. The second is that the supporting leg must remain straight until the body passes directly over it. Sounds simple enough, but judges are very alert and many walkers have found themselves disqualified for the slightest rule breach.