LINSCHOTEN, the Netherlands — Years ago, the story goes, Dutch farmers crossed the canals dividing their fields by vaulting over them with a pole, since bridges were few and far between. This apparently never translated into Olympic glory in the pole vault, but it did give rise to a sport here that has been gaining popularity in recent years — canal-vaulting. It is one of several little-known Dutch sports that are enjoying a revival here. Canal-vaulters do not seek to go high, like pole-vaulters, but long. Hence they dig the point of their giant poles, a maximum of 43 feet, into the muddy bed of the canal near the bank. They then take a running start, leap onto the pole and climb up it before, if all goes well, throwing themselves to the other side of the canal. It is even harder than it sounds, and it sounds pretty hard.When Erik Bos took his second of three tries in a recent competition in this rural Dutch village one recent evening, he suffered a common fate of canal-vaulters, gradually losing his grip on the pole and tumbling into the cold water below. Jaco de Groot, 26, jumped 67 feet, the farthest of anyone that evening, but only after plunging twice into the canal.“Normally about 30 percent of the jumpers wind up in the water,” said Pieter Hielema, who was waiting his turn to jump.The origins of the practice are lost in the misty past, but records of competitions go back to the mid-18th century. The competitions thrived for a while after World War II, then waned again until recent years.  more

From the earliest variations of existing events to competitions that can hardly be considered athletic, some former Olympic sports left us scratching our heads

Distance Plunging–Though part of the aquatics program at St. Louis in 1904, the distance plunge event seems to have more in common with a children’s game than an Olympic sport (which might explain why it’s never returned to the Games). The event required athletes to dive into the pool and coast underwater without moving their limbs. After 60 seconds had passed – or competitors had floated to the surface, whichever came first – referees measured the distance the athletes had drifted. The gold medal winner was U.S. athlete William Dickey, although, it should be noted, only Americans competed in the event

Read more: http://olympics.time.com/2012/07/16/really-strange-sports-that-are-longer-in-the-olympics/#distance-plunging#ixzz20zXDfvEv

Swedish junior pole vault star Angelica Bengtsson has revealed the secret of her success after setting a new national record of 4.58 in Sollentuna this season before going on to retain her world junior title in Barcelona last week.
Quite simply, she has given up all the little superstitions athletes have before competition and has found that she is much more relaxed.
“I had always followed little routines before competing,” explained Bengtsson.
“Amongst other things, that I should not eat sugar many weeks before a meeting. But Karlskrona (4.50) was a completely spontaneous competition.
“I woke that morning, felt full of beans and said to my coach, shall we compete today? I had not done any special preparation.”
That decision resulted in a season’s best for the then 18 year old, who went on to Sollentuna two weeks later to revise her own Swedish record to 4.58 (she has cleared 4.63 indoors 2011).
“It felt great to realise that I did not need to do anything special before competing.”
On July 3 Bengtsson was chosen to make her Olympic debut, but insists that she is completely relaxed about the prospect: “I don’t feel any special pressure. I know it is going to be very difficult to get to the final.
“But I feel very confident of my jumping at the moment. Reaching the final is the lowest goal I can have, but the highest I can set myself” revealed Bengtsson who turned 19 on July 8th.
“Everyone who is above me in the rankings can easily clear 4.60, so I know it is going to be difficult, but that is what I am aiming for and I know it is within my reach.”
At the European Athletics Championships in Helsinki, she finished only 10th with a disappointing mark of 4.30. But Bengtsson bounced back two weeks later at the world juniors in the Barcelona Olympic stadium.
Jumping with brio she lifted her second world title effortlessly with a jump of 4.50 before unsuccessfully attempting a new Swedish record of 4.60.   more

THE Olympics security fiasco sparked more chaos last night as the spectacular Opening Ceremony was dramatically SLASHED. The £27million extravaganza was chopped by half an hour because of fears of delays at G4S checkpoints and a travel shambles.Several scenes have been shortened in the middle of rehearsals.And one — involving daredevil flaming stunt bikes — has been axed altogether. Bosses took the decision to meddle with the timetable in the wake of the astonishing failure by security firm G4S to provide enough guards — which has forced the Government to call in the Army.A London 2012 source said: “The show has been cut because of fears that the checkpoints couldn’t cope with the huge rush in and out of the stadium.”The stunning pageant, masterminded by Slumdog Millionaire director Danny Boyle, is expected to be seen by a worldwide TV audience of ONE BILLION. Tickets to see it live cost up to £2,012. It will transform the Olympic Stadium into rolling British countryside, complete with live farmyard animals   more

As Olympic fever hits Britain, many couples will be dreaming of the pitter patter of a tiny Jessica Ennis or Adam Gemili of their own. With our analysis of the birth dates of Team GB athletes, explore when best to plan for a British champion in the family. The British summer is upon us, and with the mild(er) weather comes the peak season for Britain’s favourite pastime: complaining about it. This Olympic year however, love as well as rain is in air as we exclusively reveal that summer is the ideal season to produce a bundle of joy who may also do your country proud, with 30 per cent of all athletes in Team GB conceived in June, July and August (161 of 542).Olympic parents going for gold in June produced the most athletes of this Olympiad’s cohort (regardless of year born), with 58 born in March as a result (10.7 per cent), double the number born in October and therefore conceived in January (29 athletes or just 5.4 per cent).The distribution for the average British baby is strikingly different, with July, September and October the top months for birth rates in the last five years for which data has been available. These results point to the most common months for conception as October, December and January.Perhaps we can infer that Team GB’s collective parents are less likely, therefore, to drink one too many glasses of wine at the work Christmas party or New Year bash, and to plan ahead for the life of their future champion.  more