F
Field Ethos
Guest
By Edgar Castillo
It’s 1964. The Olympics are being held in Tokyo, Japan. During the opening ceremony, upwards of 8,000 pigeons are released into the sky as a symbol of peace. They cause a dirty mess for spectators and athletes alike in the stadium. But step into a time machine, and the scene played out very differently 64 years prior as the pigeons, albeit not thousands, did create a mishmash of dead birds being blown out of the sky.
To understand what happened, here’s a history lesson. The Olympics. The world’s premier international multi-sport competition was revived in 1896 from ancient Greek traditions. The Games featured various disciplines of athletic tournaments that pitted athletes from different nations against each other. The sports were chosen by the newly formed International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Baron Pierre de Coubertin. Events were based on popularity in Europe/U.S., traditional athletic principles, and feasibility for the host country. The initial program included nine events: track-and-field, swimming, gymnastics, cycling, wrestling, weightlifting, fencing, tennis, and shooting. Olympiads competed to promote global unity, friendship, and fair play. The championships featured summer and winter editions that alternated every two years within a four-year cycle. They vied for gold, silver, and bronze medals.
By the turn of the century, the Olympics were in a bit of turmoil. The Universal Exposition (TUE) — a world’s fair — complicated and overshadowed the games, causing the young organization to cede control of the trials to the TUE, meshing both events together. Through a bit of collaboration, several additional contests were added, allowing more countries to send their very best to compete. For a six-month period in 1900, Paris, France was the stage for world competition, though several of the new sports fell into a grey area, both officially and unofficially.
One of the new matches for audiences to cheer for was live pigeon shooting. That’s right folks, countries sent their best scattergun sharpshooters to compete against rival nations to see who could kill the most pigeons. Leave it to a Frenchman, de Coubertin, to come up with the bright idea to add this “very aristocratic,” yet wildly bizarre shooting competition folly to the Olympics. The event, which was split into two competitions, derived from a prominent high-stake pastime that was popular across many locales during that time period.
Pigeon shooters at the 1900 Paris Games (l to r): Maurice Fauré of France, Léon de Lunden of Belgium and Donald Mackintosh of Australia.
Live pigeon shoots gave way to “pigeon guns,” specialized high-quality, heavy-duty shotguns designed to kill birds. They featured long barrels — 30-to-32-inch tubes, with tight chokes to handle intense powder loads. They were often bespoke, engraved, and engineered for precision shots for high-flying pigeons. Onlookers watched professional shooters and experienced bird hunters looking to make a name for themselves at fairs, carnivals, and other sanctioned sporting events across America and Europe.
The rules were simple for the event. Armed Olympians would stand at the ready until pigeons were randomly released from spring boxes and traps located in the center of a fenced ring approximately 30 yards away. The object was for participants to shoot as many birds as possible from different stations from various distances, from six, five-bird “races.” Pigeons had to fall dead or wounded within the ring in order to count for scoring. If it flew out, it was a “lost bird.” Shooters were eliminated once they missed two consecutive birds.
1900 World Expo Grand Prize — 54 competitors
The purse winnings for the gold winner (de Lunden) were 20,000 francs; however, the top four finishers agreed to split the winnings. That amount was equivalent to 200K today.
Centenary Grand Prize — 166 entrants
In total, over 300 pigeons were shot dead. The new shotgun-toting event turned out to be quite messy. In the end, the ground was littered with dead and injured birds. Many were still flailing around, with blood and feathers all over the place as spectators watched in horror to the massacre that lay before them. To the content competitors, it showcased their athleticism and sporting spirit, even though the event pushed boundaries. Organizers quickly realized the grim reality of using live animals for sport had backfired on them. The game never returned. Though, many will argue the pigeon shooting was ever really a sanctioned Olympic event. No matter, as at the 1904 Games in St. Louis, Missouri, the live pigeon shooting was replaced by clay pigeon targets due to global campaigns started in 1902 to stop “live” shootings.
Side note: When the London Olympic Games of 1908 featured running deer as targets in the shooting event, it was immediately determined that cardboard cut-outs should be used instead of live deer. Lesson learned.
The post The Great Olympic Pigeon Massacre appeared first on Field Ethos.
Continue reading...
It’s 1964. The Olympics are being held in Tokyo, Japan. During the opening ceremony, upwards of 8,000 pigeons are released into the sky as a symbol of peace. They cause a dirty mess for spectators and athletes alike in the stadium. But step into a time machine, and the scene played out very differently 64 years prior as the pigeons, albeit not thousands, did create a mishmash of dead birds being blown out of the sky.
To understand what happened, here’s a history lesson. The Olympics. The world’s premier international multi-sport competition was revived in 1896 from ancient Greek traditions. The Games featured various disciplines of athletic tournaments that pitted athletes from different nations against each other. The sports were chosen by the newly formed International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Baron Pierre de Coubertin. Events were based on popularity in Europe/U.S., traditional athletic principles, and feasibility for the host country. The initial program included nine events: track-and-field, swimming, gymnastics, cycling, wrestling, weightlifting, fencing, tennis, and shooting. Olympiads competed to promote global unity, friendship, and fair play. The championships featured summer and winter editions that alternated every two years within a four-year cycle. They vied for gold, silver, and bronze medals.
By the turn of the century, the Olympics were in a bit of turmoil. The Universal Exposition (TUE) — a world’s fair — complicated and overshadowed the games, causing the young organization to cede control of the trials to the TUE, meshing both events together. Through a bit of collaboration, several additional contests were added, allowing more countries to send their very best to compete. For a six-month period in 1900, Paris, France was the stage for world competition, though several of the new sports fell into a grey area, both officially and unofficially.
Live Pigeon Shooting at the Olympics
One of the new matches for audiences to cheer for was live pigeon shooting. That’s right folks, countries sent their best scattergun sharpshooters to compete against rival nations to see who could kill the most pigeons. Leave it to a Frenchman, de Coubertin, to come up with the bright idea to add this “very aristocratic,” yet wildly bizarre shooting competition folly to the Olympics. The event, which was split into two competitions, derived from a prominent high-stake pastime that was popular across many locales during that time period.
Pigeon shooters at the 1900 Paris Games (l to r): Maurice Fauré of France, Léon de Lunden of Belgium and Donald Mackintosh of Australia.
Live pigeon shoots gave way to “pigeon guns,” specialized high-quality, heavy-duty shotguns designed to kill birds. They featured long barrels — 30-to-32-inch tubes, with tight chokes to handle intense powder loads. They were often bespoke, engraved, and engineered for precision shots for high-flying pigeons. Onlookers watched professional shooters and experienced bird hunters looking to make a name for themselves at fairs, carnivals, and other sanctioned sporting events across America and Europe.
The rules were simple for the event. Armed Olympians would stand at the ready until pigeons were randomly released from spring boxes and traps located in the center of a fenced ring approximately 30 yards away. The object was for participants to shoot as many birds as possible from different stations from various distances, from six, five-bird “races.” Pigeons had to fall dead or wounded within the ring in order to count for scoring. If it flew out, it was a “lost bird.” Shooters were eliminated once they missed two consecutive birds.
Results:
1900 World Expo Grand Prize — 54 competitors
- Leon de Lunden (Belgium), 21 pigeons killed
- Maurice Faure (France), 20 pigeons killed
- Donald MacIntosh (Australia), 18 pigeons killed
- Crittenden Robingson (USA), 18 pigeons killed
The purse winnings for the gold winner (de Lunden) were 20,000 francs; however, the top four finishers agreed to split the winnings. That amount was equivalent to 200K today.
Centenary Grand Prize — 166 entrants
- Donald MacIntosh (Australia), 22 pigeons killed
- Pedro Pidal (Spain), 21 pigeons killed
- Edgar Murphy (USA), 19 pigeons killed
In total, over 300 pigeons were shot dead. The new shotgun-toting event turned out to be quite messy. In the end, the ground was littered with dead and injured birds. Many were still flailing around, with blood and feathers all over the place as spectators watched in horror to the massacre that lay before them. To the content competitors, it showcased their athleticism and sporting spirit, even though the event pushed boundaries. Organizers quickly realized the grim reality of using live animals for sport had backfired on them. The game never returned. Though, many will argue the pigeon shooting was ever really a sanctioned Olympic event. No matter, as at the 1904 Games in St. Louis, Missouri, the live pigeon shooting was replaced by clay pigeon targets due to global campaigns started in 1902 to stop “live” shootings.
Side note: When the London Olympic Games of 1908 featured running deer as targets in the shooting event, it was immediately determined that cardboard cut-outs should be used instead of live deer. Lesson learned.
The post The Great Olympic Pigeon Massacre appeared first on Field Ethos.
Continue reading...