Golf: Made two appearances in the early part of the last century

Events on track, field, pool and beyond have all become highly-anticipated parts of the Olympic calendar but for each marquee event, there is a forgotten sport. We look at the ones which are no longer fixtures every four years

CRICKET

Although not typically considered a powerhouse of the world game, France can claim a cricketing victory that more established nations like Australia, New Zealand, India and Pakistan may never match - an Olympic medal.

In 1900 the game made its first and last appearance in the Games and, with only Great Britain and the French team taking part, medals for both were guaranteed.

Belgium and Holland were slated to swell the ranks to a vibrant four-team affair but dropped out, creating an instant final.

Credibility was further stretched by the fact that the winning British side were in fact a touring team from the south coast and soon after the sport was sent to the pavilion, never to return.

TUG OF WAR

It is not uncommon, even in the modern Olympics, for commentators to describe an event as a "tug of war" between two competing nations.

But between 1900 and 1920, countries did just that - literally battling for medals by trying to haul opponents over a line using a length of rope.

Rules allowed countries to be represented by multiple teams, leading to a clean sweep for GB in 1908 when the long arm of the law pulled hardest and three localised police forces finished on the podium.

GOLF

Made two appearances in the Olympics, in 1900 and 1904, but ultimately suffered from a lack of interest.

Four nations took part in the first Games, but that number shrunk to two - the USA and Canada - four years later.

The less-than-crowded leaderboard that resulted made the competition look less like the pinnacle of human athletic prowess and more like a minor skirmish between neighbours. Did not make the cut in 1908 and not seen since.

ROQUE

So transparent was host nation the USA's attempt to up their medal count in the 1904 Olympics that when they included a scarcely modified variant on croquet in which only American athletes competed, they could barely bring themselves to invent a new name for it. Instead they simply removed the first and last letters of the European invention - itself a more difficult proposition than bringing home all three medals uncontested.

POLO

Picked up and then dumped more times than Bridget Jones, polo appeared in five Olympiads over a 36-year period and was dropped from the list on four occasions.

But although the sport battled its way back onto the schedule on a clutch of occasions it made a final swansong in Berlin in 1936.

LACROSSE

After winning Olympic approval in both 1904 and 1908. lacrosse was discreetly disposed of in the ensuing years until being resurrected as a demonstration event in 1928.

So impressed were the organising committee that they invited the lacrosse contingent back to the Games again four years later...at demonstration level.

All that was demonstrated this time, apparently, was the sport's unsuitability for the competition and it was dropped once again before a final appearance, in the now traditional demonstration role, in 1948.