The 2014 Winter Olympics are the twenty-second winter games. Over the years, many sports have come and gone. Here are some of the notable defunct sports:
Dog sled racing: The sport is popular in North America and northern Europe, but for the rest of the world the dogs were the real stars. The Olympics failed to offer an equal opportunity for canine competitors and consequently, the sport was cancelled.
Reindeer games: The North Pole reindeer would dominate in the reindeer sports category, winning gold in sports like rooftop landing and prancing. The sport has been defunct since 2000 to avoid any connection with the Ben Affleck film of the same name.
Track & Field: Some people like to run in artic temperatures but the incredible expense of salting and snow plowing forced track and field to be terminated from the budget in 1948.
Iceberg floating: Pushing polar bears out into the ocean on a little iceberg was becoming too real in a world ravaged by global warming. Al Gore lobbied to have this game removed in 2006.
Snowball eating: There was no skill involved in this delectable sport, but it was a favorite of the athletes! The game was cut from the line-up while sled dogs and reindeer competitors were still around to contaminate the snow.
Ice sculpting: The sport was as boring as watching paint dry. Artists are not athletes.
Polar bear plunge: If jumping in cold water in freezing temperatures was an Olympic sport, 11,000 Ohio State students could be Olympians.
Snowball fights: Early winter games traditionally ended with an epic international snow-brawl. The tradition ended because some African and South American countries were sore losers and begged for the sport to be eliminated.
Skating with Celebrities: The 2006 Fox reality show had no ties to the Olympics but involved skating, which is an Olympic sport, and was also cancelled after one season.
-Travis Filicky, Contributor