Why one of world’s most popular sports has been banned from Olympics forever (2024)

If you consider yourself an Olympics fan, then there's one thing you'll have to be prepared to never see again.

Sometimes, you have to part ways with your favourite sport, and that's okay - even if it is one of the biggest in the world.

Now that the Paralympics are upon us, we can sit back and enjoy watching amazing men and women compete and test their limits once again.

The games, which are being held from 28 August 2024 to 8 September 2024 in Paris, will feature all the best athletes in the world to go against each other in a bid to win gold.

But unlike the Paralympics, the Olympics is switching it up next year and that's not exactly a good thing for some fans.

While there are a total of 40 sports in the Olympics, there's one popular sport that you'll never see at the games - and the reason why is understandable.

The popular sport that's never featured is motorsports and specifically, Formula 1.

The reason is pretty specific. In fact, in the Olympic Charter, rule 47.4.2 states: "Sports, disciplines or events in which performance depends essentially on mechanical propulsion are not acceptable."

The Olympic Charter is essentially a rule book, or a 'codification of the fundamental principles of Olympism, and the rules and bye-laws adopted by the International Olympic Committee.'

While the specific rule has since been removed, Formula 1 still hasn't been included in the games.

But many drivers aren't too bothered, with the likes of world champions Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen pretty against the idea.

On the subject, Verstappen told Sports Illustrated: "It's too car-related. [Drivers] didn't grow up in that Olympic environment - I don't think we belong at the Olympic stage.

"And that's fine, because we have our own championship which I think is really well received."

Meanwhile Hamilton said: “I just don’t think it’s an Olympic game.”

The other complex issue comes down to the vehicles themselves. Ideally, all the drivers would need to be using identical cars and equipment, which is seen as being pretty unfeasible.

The most bizarre, discontinued Olympic sports

Painting

Back in the day, the Olympics dished out medals for art too, with events including painting and sculpture, as well as music, architecture and even literature.

Making its debut all the way back at the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm and continuing until the 1948 London games, juries awarded competitors a total of 151 medals for artistic projects inspired by sport.

Tug of War

Bet you didn't think this playground classic was once part of the Olympics, did you?

Well, it turns out not only was the sport popular, but it stirred up a lot of drama too - with accusations of foul play flying around at the 1908 Olympics in London, with Team USA accusing Team GB of cheating due to their 'illegal' heavy footwear.

A mainstay for around five Olympic games from 1900 to 1920, Tug of War enthusiasts have even campaigned for organisers to reintroduce the retired sport back into the Games.

Hot Air Balloon Racing

Launching at the 1900 Olympics, hot air balloon drivers would compete in races scoring how far they could travel, altitude reached, ability to land within the correct coordinates and - to top it all off - who got the best photo from the balloon.

The sport ended up being canned after a ban on motorised sports was brought in.

Live Pigeon Shooting

Also making its debut at the 1900 Olympics, the event was pretty self explanatory - a load of pigeons were released into the air as the competitor tried to shoot as many as possible. Grim.

The event only appeared at the Games once, and all in all, it's estimated that Olympic hopefuls killed around 300 pigeons.

Pistol Duelling

It doesn't take much guessing as to why this event was scrapped, but back in 1906, people clearly didn't bat an eyelid at competitors waving pistols around and shooting at each other.

It began with competitors shooting at dummies, but two years later organisers decided to shake things up and have them shoot at each other with wax bullets. Ouch.

1908 would be the last time the sport was included in the Olympics, so I'm guessing they quickly realised it was a bad idea - wax bullets or not.

At least the Paralympics don't change their competitions like this.