Banned gymnastics move wont be seen at this year's Olympic Games or ever again
Taking place across the entire 2024 Paris Olympics calendar, millions of eyes will be glued to the gymnastics as hundreds of athletes compete across more than a dozen events.
But for those watching one particular event, there is zero chance of seeing one move that was introduced to the public way back in the 1972 Munich Games after it was banned due to the deadly risk it posed to athletes trying to execute it.
The 18 events on the gymnastics calendar give us a look at the likes of the men's pommel horse, women's balance beam, and team all-around events for both sexes... even though it seems Team USA's Simone Biles may have already leaked one of the 'biggest gymnastics secrets' ever.
Anyway, there's one event reserved for the women that has a deadly move that competitors are likely to never perform unless they want to face disqualification.
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The Korbut flip
As the headline suggests, the move in question is called the Korbut flip and named after the woman who invented it way back in 1972.
Olga Korbut competed for the Soviet Union at the summer games, winning four golds and two silvers across the 1972 and 1976 events.
Dubbed the 'Sparrow from Minsk', the now 69-year-old Belarusian debuted the spectacular and terrifying move during the even bars, where gymnasts swing from two bars that are at different heights and have different widths.
Debuting the move at the 1972 Munich Olympics, it was quickly given the name of the Dead Loop given how dangerous it was.
What does the Korbut flip consist of?
When debuted by Korbut in 1972, it saw her stand on the higher of the two bars before performing a back flip before grabbing the bar with her hands.
Korbut then moved directly in to the lower bar with her waist, where she did a full inverted loop on the lower bar before leaving it in a backwards motion to grab the higher bar behind her.
Technically, Korbut's performance was spectacular and gained her a 9.8 score with the judges.
But it was one that was quickly cracked down on by authorities in the world of gymnastics.
Banned from gymnastics
The 1980s saw the International Gymnastics Federation ban the move due to the huge perceived risk of injury that athletes faced by performing it.
They said they had to put the welfare and safety of gymnasts first, which many can appreciate after watching footage of the move being performed.
Given the backward movements in grabbing the bars and the inverted roll around the smaller bar, there is risk of head, neck, and spine damage if it goes wrong. This was seen often in training, authorities said, with the risk-reward balance essentially not worth it.
The most bizarre, discontinued Olympic sports
Painting
Back in the day, the Olympics dished out medals for art too, with events including painting and sculpture, as well as music, architecture and even literature.
Making its debut all the way back at the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm and continuing until the 1948 London games, juries awarded competitors a total of 151 medals for artistic projects inspired by sport.
Tug of War
Bet you didn't think this playground classic was once part of the Olympics, did you?
Well, it turns out not only was the sport popular, but it stirred up a lot of drama too - with accusations of foul play flying around at the 1908 Olympics in London, with Team USA accusing Team GB of cheating due to their 'illegal' heavy footwear.
A mainstay for around five Olympic games from 1900 to 1920, Tug of War enthusiasts have even campaigned for organisers to reintroduce the retired sport back into the Games.
Hot Air Balloon Racing
Launching at the 1900 Olympics, hot air balloon drivers would compete in races scoring how far they could travel, altitude reached, ability to land within the correct coordinates and - to top it all off - who got the best photo from the balloon.
The sport ended up being canned after a ban on motorised sports was brought in.
Live Pigeon Shooting
Also making its debut at the 1900 Olympics, the event was pretty self explanatory - a load of pigeons were released into the air as the competitor tried to shoot as many as possible. Grim.
The event only appeared at the Games once, and all in all, it's estimated that Olympic hopefuls killed around 300 pigeons.
Pistol Duelling
It doesn't take much guessing as to why this event was scrapped, but back in 1906, people clearly didn't bat an eyelid at competitors waving pistols around and shooting at each other.
It began with competitors shooting at dummies, but two years later organisers decided to shake things up and have them shoot at each other with wax bullets. Ouch.
1908 would be the last time the sport was included in the Olympics, so I'm guessing they quickly realised it was a bad idea - wax bullets or not.
Topics:Â Olympics, World News, Weird, Viral, Sport, Extreme Sports, Russia
Tom Earnshaw