| Tug of war at the Summer Olympics | |
|---|---|
 | |
| IOC Code | TOW |
| Governing body | TWIF |
| Events | 1 (men) |
| Summer Olympics | |
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Tug of war was contested as a team event in theSummer 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 in1904, when theUnited States won all three medals, and in1908 when the podium was occupied by threeBritish teams.[1]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 theOlympic athletics programme, although the sports oftug of war andathletics 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]
Sources:[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 | |
Teams consisted of 6 members in 1900, 5 members in 1904, and 8 members in 1908, 1912, and 1920.
In 1900, three Danish pullers and three Swedish pullers competed together as amixed team, winning first place; the same year, one Colombian puller joined five French pullers in a mixed team that won second place. In 1904, a mixed team of one German puller and 4 United States pullers 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 | |
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| Summer sports | |
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| Winter sports | |
| 2026 optional | |
| 2028 optional | |
| Past sports | |
| Demonstration sports | |
| Unofficial sports |
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