Back when they had proper sports at the Olympics. Britain won the silver medal in the Tug of War, though as you can see it was a closely contested affair. The achievement was somewhat compromised by the fact that only Sweden and Great Britain entered.
From Wikipedia:
Tug of war was contested as a team event in the Summer Olympics at every Olympiad from 1900 to 1920. Originally the competition was entered by clubs, which meant that one country could win several medals. This happened in 1904, when the United States won all three medals, and in 1908 when the podium was occupied by three British teams. Sweden was also among the top countries with two medals, one as a member of the mixed team.
The three winning British teams in 1908 were the City of London Police, Liverpool Police, and Metropolitan Police K Division: truly the golden age of law enforcement.
A number of events that were purged from the Olympic schedule.
• Live pigeon shooting (1900). This is the only event in Olympic history in which animals were killed intentionally. Leon de Lunden of Belgium won the gold medal, with 21 birds killed, one more than Frenchman Maurice Faure bagged.
• A 100m freestyle swim that was open only to members of the Greek navy (1896).
• Tug-of-war (1900-20). In 1908, after a humiliating first-round loss to the British, the Americans protested that the British had used illegal spiked boots. When the protest was disallowed, the Americans withdrew.
• Croquet (1900).
• Dueling pistols (1906).
• Plunge for distance (1904).
• Underwater swimming (1900).
• The standing broad jump (1900-12).
• The standing long jump (1900-12).
• The standing triple jump (1900 and 1904).
• Motor boating (1908).
Posted by: Sadie | August 05, 2012 at 05:44 AM
The standing broad jump? For standing broads, I suppose.
Posted by: Mick H | August 05, 2012 at 09:33 AM