Indian Club Swinging at the 1904 Summer Olympics

Indian Club Swinging at the 1904 Summer Olympics

When you think of the Summer Olympics, the events that most immediately come to mind probably include track and field, weightlifting, swimming, and other popular forms of competition... but Olympic history is full of several unusual sports that garnered much less attention, and which existed as a competitive event for only a brief period.

You may be surprised to learn that at the 1904 Summer Olympics (held in St. Louis, Missouri) indian club swinging made its first (but not only) appearance as an Olympic contest.

Classified as a gymnastics event, the original competition featured only three athletes -- all from the United States: Edward Hennig of Cleveland, Ohio took home the Gold Medal, narrowly edging his countryman Emil Voigt by a score of 13-9. Ralph Wilson took Bronze with a score of "5."

Indian Club Swinging was again on the docket for the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, but that was its last moment in the spotlight, at least on the Olympic stage. We sure won't be seeing any late-night coverage of club swinging from Beijing this year.

Although no longer a competitive sport, club swinging still remains a great way to build upper body strength and stamina even a hundred years later.

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