deer target © Reinekke/Shutterstock.com

Thankfully, this event didn’t involve live deer. Instead, cutouts of deer—with three concentric circle targets—were used. The “deer” moved quickly (75 feet [23 meters] in 4 seconds) past the shooters, who stood 110 yards (100 meters) back and took their allotted two shots at each of them. The event was introduced at the 1908 Games in London and was held at a number of Olympics before being discontinued. The sport was perhaps most notable for the performance of Sweden’s Oscar Swahn. He made his Olympic debut at the age of 60 in 1908 and became the oldest gold medalist, winning an individual and a team event in the sport. He continued to compete until the 1920 Games, where he won a silver at the age of 72.