3 of the Greatest Athletes Who Never Won Olympic Gold

Roy Jones Jr.The quest to attain Olympic glory is one of the longest running traditions in all of sport, and the spectacle provided by the games is one of the few events that can claim to appeal to a genuinely global audience.

However, despite being the most sought after prize around, many athletes, who have otherwise reigned supreme in their field, have found that coveted gold medal elusive.

Here’s a look at three of the best athletes who’ve never stood atop an Olympic podium;

Roy Jones Junior

 

From the title of this article, you’re probably expecting a list comprising entirely of athletes who, despite having vast amounts of talent, for one reason or another, never quite performed on the biggest stage of all.

However, when it comes to the boxer, Roy Jones Junior, this simply isn’t the case. He only competed in one Olympics, Seoul 1988, and, simply put, he blew the competition away.

He made his way to the final without conceding a single round en route. In his last opponent he faced a competitor from the home nation, Park Si-Hun, an athlete many commentators considered very lucky to have reached such an advanced stage in the tournament, having benefitted … Read more at FryingPanSports

5 Weird Discontinued Olympic Sports

If you think the modern Olympics have always featured the same, traditional events then you’re wrong. Here are five of the most unusual events to have ever graced the games.

Swimming Obstacle Race (Paris, 1900)

If you fancy competing in a spot of obstacle swimming you’re going to have to travel back in time to Paris 1900, as this is the only time the event was included. 12 competitors raced the 200 metre course that included three obstacles. The first was a pole which the swimmers had to climb over. They then had to clamber over a row of boats, before swimming under another line of vessels towards the end of the course. The gold medal was taken by Australia’s Frederick Lane, so perhaps they should have resurrected the event for the Sydney Olympics in 2000.

Long Jump for Horses (Paris, 1900)

This one doesn’t really need an explanation does it? The winner was simply the horse that jumped the furthest, which incidentally wasn’t very far at all. The winning horse managed to leap just over 20 feet, which is more than 2.5 metres shorter than the current human world record.

Live Pigeon Shooting (Paris 1900)

How mental do the … Read more at FryingPanSports

How Many Different Competitions Are Part of An Olympic Pentathlon?

The Olympic Pentathlon consists of five different sporting events. The modern pentathlon is composite event which tests the endurance, strength, timing, precision and skill of an athlete. The events are performed consecutively in a predetermined order. The modern Olympic events include swimming, shooting, equestrian, fencing and running. Women did not participate in pentathlon until the 1970’s and the first world championship was not held until 1980. The Olympic Pentathlon excluded women from the event until the year 2000 when women took part in Sydney, Australia. However, this is only one feature where modern pentathlon differs from the Ancient Olympiad version first held in the year 708 B.C.

Besides the fact that the ancient competitors competed without any clothing, the events were the discus throw, long jump, javelin throw, foot race and wrestling. Wrestling and running were considered individual events as well, while javelin, discus, and long jump were considered only as part as the pentathlon series. Although a few events are ancient versions of contests held today, the rules and methods were quite different.

Wrestling was held in a sand pit out side of the stadium. The opponents covered themselves in oil and dust, and grappled each other to the … Read more at FryingPanSports