30 greatest one-time sports in Summer Olympics history
By Nick Villano
14. Ballooning
1900 Paris Olympics
The 1900 edition of the Olympics was insane. We’ve said it time and time again. Snopes claims some of these events weren’t a part of the Olympics, but there’s just as much evidence saying that they did. There are literally books written about the history of the Olympics that showcase how chaotic the planning and execution of these Games were. That leads us to ballooning.
Ballooning is the act of controlling what we now consider hot-air balloons (but these were technically gas balloons). The competitions were judged based on the size and type of balloon that was being used. The balloons they used required no power, fuel or motors.
In 1900, there were 18 events involved with ballooning in Paris. These events measured statistics like distance traveled, landing on targets, elevation, and duration.
We’ve become used to athletes breaking world records at the Olympics. Ballooning is no different. Henry de La Vaulx broke two records, one for distance and another for duration of piloting a ballooning flight. His flight did not stay in Paris. They started in the French capital and traveled all the way to Kiev for one of the competitions, a ridiculous 1,237 kilometers. They spent close to 36 hours in that balloon.