Demonstration sport

A demonstration sport is a sport which is played to promote itself, most commonly during the Olympic Games, but also at other sporting events.

Demonstration sports were officially introduced in 1912 Summer Olympics, when Sweden decided to include glima, traditional Icelandic wrestling, in the Olympic program, but with its medals not counting as official. Most organizing committees then decided to include at least one demonstration sport at each edition of the Games, usually some typical or very popular sport in the host country, like baseball at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games and taekwondo at the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games. From 1912 to 1992, only two editions of the Summer Olympics did not have demonstration sports on their program. Some demonstration sports eventually gained enough popularity to become an official sport in a subsequent edition of the Games. Traditionally, the medals awarded for the demonstration events followed the same design as the Olympic medals, but of a smaller size. These medals are never included in the medal count.

Demonstration sports were suspended after the 1992 Summer Olympics, as the Olympic program grew bigger and it became more difficult for the organizing committees to give them the appropriate attention, since the IOC required the same treatment to be dispensed for official and demonstration sports.^[1] It is unlikely that they will be reintroduced as a requirement for future Olympic organizing committees. However, the Beijing Olympic Committee received permission from the IOC to run a wushu competition parallel to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, Wushu Tournament Beijing 2008.^[2][3][4]

Since the 1984 Summer Olympics, two Paralympic events (a men's and a women's wheelchair racing event) have been included in the athletics (track and field) programme of each Games. These events are considered by many as a demonstration sport, but are, in fact, used to promote the Paralympic Games. Disabled events in alpine and Nordic skiing (1988 only) were also held as demonstration sports at the 1984 and 1988 Winter Olympics.

Summer Olympics

Here is the list of demonstration sports played at the Summer Olympic Games:

Games	Demonstration Sports	Entered the Olympic program (where applicable)
1900 Paris1	• angling (men) • ballooning (men) • boules (men) • cannon shooting (men) • fire fighting (men) • kite flying (men) • jeu de paume (men) • lifesaving (men) • longue paume (men) • motorsport (men) • pigeon racing (men) • water motorsports (men)
1904 St. Louis1	• basketball (men) • American football (men) • Gaelic football (men) • hurling (men) • motor cycling (men)	• 1936
1908 London1	• cycle polo (men)
1912 Stockholm	• baseball (men) • glima (men)	• 19922
1920 Antwerp	• korfball (mixed)
1924 Paris	• Basque pelota (men) • la canne (men) • canoeing and kayaking (men) • savate (men) • volleyball	• 1936 • 1964
1928 Amsterdam	• kaatsen (men) • korfball (mixed) • lacrosse (men)
1932 Los Angeles	• American football (men) • lacrosse (men)
1936 Berlin	• baseball (men) • gliding (men)
1948 London	• lacrosse (men) • Swedish (Ling) gymnastics (men and women)
1952 Helsinki	• Finnish baseball (men) • 11-a-side field handball (men)
1956 Melbourne	• Australian rules football (men) • baseball (men)
1960 Rome	none
1964 Tokyo	• baseball (men) • budō (men)
1968 Mexico City	• Basque pelota (men) • tennis (men and women)	• 19883
1972 Munich	• badminton (men and women) • water skiing (men and women)	• 1992
1976 Montreal	none
1980 Moscow	none
1984 Los Angeles	• baseball (men) • tennis (men and women)
1988 Seoul	• badminton (men and women) • baseball (men) • bowling (men and women) • judo (women) • taekwondo (men and women)	• 1992 • 2000
1992 Barcelona	• Basque pelota (men and women) • roller hockey (men) • taekwondo (men and women)
1996 Atlanta	none
2000 Sydney	none
2004 Athens	none
2008 Beijing	none4

• ¹ Although demonstration sports were "officially" introduced only in 1912, at the first Olympics some sports competitions were held simultaneously to the games, and today are considered "unofficial" or demonstration sports as well.^[5]
• ² Removed from Olympic program after 2008.
• ³ Was part of the program between 1896 and 1924.
• ⁴ The IOC permitted a parallel Wushu competition to be run, but this was not an official demonstration sport.

Winter Olympics

Here is the list of demonstration sports played at the Winter Olympic Games:

Games	Demonstration Sports	Entered the Olympic program (where applicable)
1924 Chamonix	• military patrol (men)
1928 St. Moritz	• military patrol (men) • skijoring (men)
1932 Lake Placid	• curling (men) • sled-dog racing (men) • speed skating (women)	• 19985 • 1960
1936 Garmisch-Partenkirchen	• military patrol (men) • ice stock sport (men)
1948 St. Moritz	• military patrol (men) • winter pentathlon (men)
1952 Oslo	• bandy (men)
1956 Cortina d'Ampezzo	none
1960 Squaw Valley	none
1964 Innsbruck	• ice stock sport (men)
1968 Grenoble	none
1972 Sapporo	none
1976 Innsbruck	none
1980 Lake Placid	none
1984 Sarajevo	• disabled alpine skiing (men)
1988 Calgary	• curling (men and women) • freestyle skiing (men and women) • short track speed skating (men and women) • disabled alpine & Nordic skiing (men and women)	• 1992 • 1992
1992 Albertville	• curling (men and women) • speed skiing (men and women) • freestyle skiing – aerials and ski ballet (men and women)
1994 Lillehammer	none
1998 Nagano	none
2002 Salt Lake City	none
2006 Turin	none
2010 Vancouver	none

• ⁵ Was part of the program in 1924.

See also

• Olympic sports

References

1. ^ http://www.olympic.org/uk/games/past/innovations_uk.asp?OLGT=2&OLGY=1992
2. ^ http://www.newsgd.com/culture/culturenews/200510140032.htm
3. ^ http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-10/16/content_3621265.htm
4. ^ "Wushu Tournament Beijing 2008 to begin August 21". Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. 2008-08-05. http://en.beijing2008.cn/news/official/preparation/n214506999.shtml. 
5. ^ http://www.gbrathletics.com/olympic/other.htm#DEMO

External links

• International Olympic Committee
• Olympic Official Reports
• List of Olympic medallists