Tug of war at the Summer Olympics
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Tug of war was contested as a team event in the Summer Olympics at the Games of every Olympiad from 1900 to 1920. Originally the competition was entered by groups called clubs. A country could enter more than one club in the competition, making it possible for one country to earn multiple medals. This happened in 1904, when the United States won all three medals, and in 1908 when the podium was occupied by three British teams.[1] Sweden was also among the top countries with two medals, one as a member of the mixed team.
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(Front row - left to right): Edward Barrett, Henry Duke (Captain), William Hirons
During its time as an Olympic sport, it was considered to be part of the Olympic athletics programme, although the sports of tug of war and athletics are now considered distinct.[2]
After the 1920 Games, the International Olympic Committee decided to streamline the Olympic program to manage the number of sports and participants. As part of this effort, Tug of War and several other sports were removed from the Olympic program in the following years.[3]
Medal table
Sources:[4]
| Rank | NOC | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Great Britain | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| 2 |  United States | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 3 |  Mixed team | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
 Sweden | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| 5 |  France | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
 Netherlands | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| 7 |  Belgium | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (7 entries) | 5 | 5 | 3 | 13 | |
Medal winners
Individual medal leaders
Only individuals with multiple wins are included.
| Athlete | NOC | Olympics | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total | Refs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Frederick Humphreys | Great Britain |
1908, 1912, 1920 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | [5][10] |
| Edwin Mills | Great Britain |
1908, 1912, 1920 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | [5][11] |
| John James Shepherd | Great Britain |
1908, 1912, 1920 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | [5][12] |
| John Sewell | Great Britain |
1912, 1920 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | [5][13] |
Nations
Teams consisted of 6 members in 1900, 5 members in 1904, and 8 members in 1908, 1912, and 1920.
In 1900, three Danish pullers and three Swedish pullers competed together as a mixed team, winning first place; the same year, one Colombian puller joined five French pullers in a mixed team that won second place. In 1904, a mixed team of one German puller and 4 United States pullers won third place.
| Nation | 00 | 04 | 08 | 12 | 20 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belgium | 8 | |||||
 Colombia | 1 | |||||
 Denmark | 3 | |||||
| France | 5 | |||||
 Great Britain | 24 | 8 | 8 | |||
 Germany | 1 | |||||
 Greece | 5 | |||||
 Italy | 8 | |||||
| Netherlands | 8 | |||||
| South Africa | 5 | |||||
| Sweden | 3 | 8 | 8 | |||
 United States | 19 | 8 | 8 | |||
| No. of nations | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 5 | |
| No. of pullers | 12 | 30 | 40 | 16 | 40 | |