Tug of war at the 1900 Summer Olympics

Tug of war at the Games of the II Olympiad
The tug of war competition
Dates	July 16
Competitors	12 from 3 nations
Medalists
Denmark and Sweden Mixed team   France France

At the 1900 Summer Olympics, a tug of war tournament was contested. Three teams entered, but the United States withdrew because of scheduling conflicts with the athletics program. Twelve athletes, comprising two teams and representing three nations, competed.

Development

The match consisted of a best-of-3 format. A combined Sweden/Denmark team, made up of three competitors from each country, defeated the French team to win the title. The Sweden-Denmark team defeated France in the first two pulls, taking the gold medal easily. It was Sweden's first Olympic gold medal.

They were left as the only participating teams; the United States had entered but were forced to scratch as three of their team were involved in the final of the hammer. Edgar Aaybe was a journalist covering the Games for the Danish newspaper Politiken and was asked to join the team when another puller was taken ill.

Medalists

Gold	Silver	Bronze
Mixed team (ZZX)  Edgar Aabye (DEN)  August Nilsson (SWE)  Eugen Schmidt (DEN)  Gustaf Söderström (SWE)  Karl Staaf (SWE)  Charles Winckler (DEN)	France (FRA) Raymond Basset Jean Collas Charles Gondouin Joseph Roffo Emile Sarrade Francisco Henríquez de Zubiría	-

Participating nations

A total of 12 tug of war competitors from 3 nations competed at the Paris Games:

• Denmark (3)
• France (6)
• Sweden (3)

Medal table

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Mixed team (ZZX)	1	0	0	1
2	France (FRA)	0	1	0	1

References

• International Olympic Committee medal winners database
• De Wael, Herman. Herman's Full Olympians: "Tug of War 1900". Accessed 10 March 2006. Available electronically at .
• Mallon, Bill (1998). The 1900 Olympic Games, Results for All Competitors in All Events, with Commentary. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. ISBN 0-7864-0378-0.