30 greatest one-time sports in Summer Olympics history
By Nick Villano
21. Water Skiing
1972 Munich Olympics
This is another demonstration sport, but unlike some of the other sports that never made it to the “big time,” water skiing had a legitimate competition at the 1972 Olympics. Thirty-five athletes took part in a set of three competitions: men’s slalom, men’s figure skiing, and men’s jump (there were women’s competitions as well).
The water skiing events took place on the Baltic Sea, giving it an awesome backdrop that likely would have been amazing in HD TV. Unfortunately, they didn’t have that kind of quality back then, so we never got to see how this would have translated today. The three events brought different levels of competition, with American Ricky McCormick taking both the figure skiing and jump events. Three different women won all three skiing events.
The men’s slalom championship event had to be moved because the seas were too rough, which might have led to some second-guessing for future Olympics. They had to do the main competition on the Passader Sea, which is much calmer.
The Olympics kept resisting any sports or competitions that involved motors. They didn’t want motorized boats, vehicles, or any other competition that seemed to be more than pure human athletics. This is one of the more popular sports at the Pan American Games, so the Olympics may one day reconsider, but for now, it finds its place on this list.