Tug of war at the Summer Olympics

Tug of war at the Summer Olympics
IOC Code	TOW
Governing body	TWIF
Events	1 (men)
Summer Olympics
1896 1900 1904 1908 1912 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024 2028
Medalists

Tug of war competition in 1904 Summer Olympics.

The victorious City of London Police team that won the tug of war gold medal at the London Olympics in 1908. (Back row - left to right): Frederick Merriman, John James Shepherd, Edwin Mills, Albert Ireton, Frederick Goodfellow, Frederick Humphreys
(Front row - left to right): Edward Barrett, Henry Duke (Captain), William Hirons

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. Sweden was also among the top countries with two medals, one as a member of the mixed team.

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.

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.

Medal table

Sources:

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

Teams 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

• List of Olympic venues in discontinued events