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Home >Events >Olympics >Summer >Sports > Involving Animals
Other than the animals depicted asOlympic Games mascots, the only current Olympic events that involve animals are theequestrian events (and the equestrian part ofmodern pentathlon). However, this has not always been the case.
modern day chariot racersIn the Ancient Olympics,chariot races and horse racing were once part of the program, and animal sacrifice was often a component of the ceremonies surrounding the events.
In modern times, a shooting event calledlive pigeon shooting was held in 1900. The objective of this event was to shoot and kill as many birds as possible. This was the first and only time in Olympic history when animals were killed on purpose. In 1988 birds were again killed at the Olympics, but accidentally this time. At the opening ceremony a flock of doves was released into the stadium and unfortunately as the cauldron was lit some of the birds were burned to death.
What sounded like an animal shooting event was on the program between 1908 till 1948. In the running deer shooting event, however, the "deer' in this case were targets in the shape of deer. Similarly, in 1900 and 1920, thepopinjay or pole archery events involved shooting arrows at artificial birds that were placed on cross beams suspended from a large pole.
Any comments, suggestions, or corrections?Please let us know.The next Olympics will be inLA 2028, the next Winter edition inMilan-Cortina 2026. Check out thelist of Olympic Games sports, as well asdiscontinued anddemonstration sports.
The largest sporting event in the world is theOlympic Games, but there are many othermulti-sport games. In terms of single sport events, nothing beats theFIFA World Cup. To see what's coming up, check out thecalendar of major sporting events.
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