30 greatest one-time sports in Summer Olympics history

3. Equestrian Vaulting
1920 Antwerp Olympics

Most of the “assisted” events, whether it be by vehicle, aircraft, vessel, or other apparatus have been eliminated by the Olympics over the years. However, horses have been and continue to be part of the Olympics. There will be six equestrian events at the Paris Olympics. One of those events will not be equestrian vaulting because it hasn’t been at the Games in over a century.

The one and only time we saw equestrian vaulting was at the 1920 Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium. Each nation sent a team, and their aggregate score was put together to find the winner. There was also an individual event. Vaulting is often described as gymnastics on horseback. It’s often performed at circuses and other entertainment shows. 

Also called figure riding, this event had four sub-events. In the first, riders had to jump onto the horse from a standing position and then jump back to the ground. Then, they had to jump over the horse completely. The third one was to jump over one or multiple horses with a salto, and it ended with a walk on top of the horse. It sounds impressive, but it also sounds risky as one mistake could set off a horse.

Only host Belgium, France, and Sweden participated in the event, leading to a low turnout overall. Belgium and France dominated the competition, sweeping the individual medals and beating the bricks off Sweden in the team.