30 greatest one-time sports in Summer Olympics history
By Nick Villano
16. Men’s Tumbling
1932 Los Angeles Olympics
Artistic gymnastics has taken on many different collections of events over the years, but it hasn’t changed on the men’s side since 1932. That year in Los Angeles, 11 different disciplines were under the gymnastics umbrella, including now-discontinued sports rope climbing, Indian clubs, and tumbling. Tumbling was making its Olympic debut in 1932, but it ended up being a short program.
The event was not very popular, as only four athletes were set to compete. A 25% chance to win a gold medal is quite the probability for an athlete. Three of the four tumblers were American, with only Istvan Pelle out of Hungary representing the rest of the world. This event is probably what led the Olympic Committee to re-evaluate the gymnastics slate, as this was a clear sweep by the Americans on home soil.
The floor exercise was also added to the Olympics around this time, and many experts believe the two disciplines tend to overlap in their skill sets. That was likely another reason why tumbling was one-and-done for the Olympics.
Gymnastics is the best sport at the Olympics every year. It’s because of the level of competition in each event and the pure athleticism on display. Tumbling pretty much failed at both of those aspects in 1932, so off the schedule it went.