Tug of war was contested as a team event in the Summer Olympics at the Games of every Olympiad from 1900 to 1920. Originally the competition was entered by groups called clubs. A country could enter more than one club in the competition, making it possible for one country to earn multiple 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.[1] Sweden was also among the top countries with two medals, one as a member of the mixed team.
| Tug of war at the Summer Olympics | |
|---|---|
 | |
| IOC Code | TOW |
| Governing body | TWIF |
| Events | 1 (men) |
| Summer Olympics | |
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(Front row - left to right): Edward Barrett, Henry Duke (Captain), William Hirons
During its time as an Olympic sport, it was considered to be part of the Olympic athletics programme, although the sports of tug of war and athletics are now considered distinct.[2]
After the 1920 Games, the International Olympic Committee decided to streamline the Olympic program to manage the number of sports and participants. As part of this effort, Tug of War and several other sports were removed from the Olympic program in the following years.[3]
Medal table
editSources:[4]
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Great Britain (GBR) | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| 2 |  Mixed team (ZZX) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 3 |  United States (USA) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 4 |  Sweden (SWE) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 5 |  Netherlands (NED) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 6 |  Belgium (BEL) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (6 entries) | 5 | 5 | 3 | 13 | |
Nations
editTeams consisted of 6 members, 5 members in 1904, and 8 members in the last three appearances of the sport. In 1900 3 pullers of Denmark and 3 pullers of Sweden competed together in Mixed team that won first place. In 1900 5 pullers of France and 1 puller of Colombia competed together in Mixed team that won second place. In 1904 4 pullers of United States and 1 puller of Germany competed together in Mixed team that won third place.
| Nation | 00 | 04 | 08 | 12 | 20 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belgium |
8 | |||||
 Colombia |
1 | |||||
 Denmark |
3 | |||||
 France |
5 | |||||
 Great Britain |
24 | 8 | 8 | |||
 Germany |
1 | |||||
 Greece |
5 | |||||
 Italy |
8 | |||||
| Netherlands |
8 | |||||
| South Africa |
5 | |||||
| Sweden |
3 | 8 | 8 | |||
 United States |
19 | 8 | 8 | |||
| No. of nations | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 5 | |
| No. of pullers | 12 | 30 | 40 | 16 | 40 | |
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Olympic Results, Gold Medalists and Official Records". olympic.org. 23 February 2017. Retrieved 23 April 2018.
- ^ Past Olympic Sports. Olympics/IOC. Retrieved on 2010-08-30.
- ^ "Olympics History". www.tugofwar.co.uk. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
- ^ "Olympic Analytics - Medals by Countries". olympanalyt.com. Retrieved 2022-01-31.