Airship racing, painting on targets, and shooting at live pigeons have all been Olympic sports at some point in time.
The Olympic history is filled with odd sports.
Even in Paris, medals will be awarded in sports that are not so common in Sweden.
+ Breaking
Breaking, or "break dancing" as it is often called, makes its Olympic debut during the games in Paris.
The style originated in the 1970s in the USA, where breaking became a major part of hip-hop culture in the country. Above all in New York, where the style had the strongest foothold. Since the 1990s, international competitions have been held.
The competitors dance themselves, and there will be a competition for men and one for women.
The event makes its premiere in the real Olympics, but has previously existed as a discipline under the Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires 2018. However, the event has already been dropped from the Olympics in 2028.
Sweden does not participate.
+ Sport Climbing
Climbing is not an entirely unusual activity, but despite this, the event has never been part of the Olympic context before.
The athletes in sport climbing are often younger than in other sports. 39 percent are 18 years or younger. In total, there are over 25 million climbers in over 150 countries, according to the International Olympic Committee's website.
Like breaking, it was first in the Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires 2018 that the sport was tested for the first time in Olympic contexts.
In the Olympics, athletes will compete in three different types of climbing: speed, difficulty (lead), and bouldering.
Sweden does not participate.
+ 3x3 Basketball
Basketball has been an Olympic sport for a long time. But 3x3 basketball, where teams play three against three on one hoop, made its Olympic debut only in Tokyo 2021.
3x3 basketball is one of the biggest "street sports" in, among other places, the USA. Often, 3x3 basketball is a bit more relaxed, and can be played both outdoors and indoors. In the Olympics, the sport is held indoors. It's not uncommon for the event to also include a DJ playing music.
Sweden does not participate.
+ Rugby Sevens
Regular rugby, with 15 players per team, is not particularly big in Sweden. Even more unusual is rugby sevens, or in Swedish, sjumannarugby.
The form of rugby made its entrance in Olympic contexts during the championships in Rio 2016, and has been included since then.
The variant is more fast-paced and high-intensity than in the more traditional rugby format. Matches are played in two halves of seven minutes each, with only a one-minute halftime break, instead of the 40-minute halves played in traditional rugby.
Rugby in some form was reintroduced in 2016, after nearly 100 years of absence. Rugby was part of the Olympic program in Paris 1924.
Sweden does not participate.
+ Sailing – iQFoil
This year's Olympic class in windsurfing is iQFoil. It is a type of board that appears to hover over the water. The reason the board appears to fly over the water surface is because it has a foil, a type of lift plane, on the underside of the board, which makes it float.
Speeds can be measured at 27-28 knots, equivalent to 50-52 kilometers per hour.
Sweden has a competitor in the event, Johanna Hjertberg.
