But over the years, several competitions have come and gone. We think these former Olympic sports would make the games even more fun.
Rope Climbing
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Believe it or not, this old school P.E. test/form of torture was an Olympic event on four separate occasions (1896, 1904, 1924 and 1932). Judges graded participants on style during the initial competition, but the following three were a simple race to the top.
Baseball
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America's Pastime was an Olympic competition from 1992 to 2008, but wasn't included in the 2012 or 2016 Games. However, just before the start of the Rio 2016 Games, the International Olympic Committee announced they would reinstate baseball for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
10K Walk
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Also known as racewalking, the event was a road race where athletes had to remain in contact with the ground at all times and keep the supporting leg straight until the raised leg passed it. Olympic Power Walking sounds amazing, and we'd just like to see the inevitable intensity and drama.
Solo Synchronized Swimming
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Uh, what? Apparently, instead of being synchronized with fellow swimmers, athletes were simply synchronized with music. We feel like Water Dancing would be a more appropriate name for this competition, which was part of the Olympic program from 1984 to 1992.
Softball
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Like baseball, softball was cut from the Games after the 2008 Beijing Olympics, but will make a comeback in the 2020 Tokyo Games. The U.S. had a run of three straight gold medals from 1996 to 2004 before losing to Japan in the 2008 gold medal game.
Tandem Cycling
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To quote the 1892 song, "You'll look sweet upon the seat of a bicycle built for two." Athletes last competed in the 2000-meter Tandem Cycling race at the 1972 Olympics in Munich.
Lacrosse
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Lacrosse hasn't been an official Olympic sport since 1908 but was featured as a demonstration sport as recently as 1948. Now one of the fastest growing sports in the country, we think it's high time LAX returned to the world stage.
Swimming Obstacle Race
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Before the rise of mud runs and obstacle course races, there was the Swimming Obstacle Race at the 1900 Olympics in Paris. Swimmers had to complete a 200-meter course that included climbing over a pole and getting across a row of boats above the water before swimming beneath another row. Australian swimmer Frederick Lane took home the lone gold medal.
(We couldn't find any pictures of the actual competition, so here's a look at where the event took place, the River Seine in Paris.)
Tug-of-War
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That's right, the legendary tug-of-war wasn't always exclusive to summer camps and family reunions. It was an Olympic event from 1900 to 1920, and countries could enter multiple teams in the event, resulting in U.S. podium sweeps in 1904 and Great Britain in 1908.
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