Demonstration sport

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A demonstration sport, or exhibition sport, is played to promote a sport, not to compete for Olympic medals. It’s common at the Olympic Games and can appear at other events as well.

History in brief:
- Demonstration sports were officially started at the 1924 Summer Olympics. Some scholars also count unofficial demonstrations before 1924.
- Host cities often included at least one demonstration sport, usually a sport popular in that country (for example, baseball in 1984 in Los Angeles and taekwondo in 1988 in Seoul).
- From 1924 to 1992, only two Summer Games had no demonstration sports. Some demonstration sports later became official Olympic sports in later Games.

Medals and status:
- Demonstration medals looked like Olympic medals but were smaller, and they did not count toward the official medal tally.
- Demonstration sports were suspended after the 1992 Summer Olympics because the program had grown too big to give them the same attention as official sports. The IOC has not required or encouraged reintroducing demonstration sports for future Games.

Exceptions and related events:
- The Beijing 2008 Games included a Wushu Tournament Beijing 2008 with IOC permission, run alongside the Olympics.
- From 1984 to 2004, two Paralympic wheelchair racing events were included in the athletics program at each Games. While many saw these as demonstration events to promote the Paralympics, they were part of the Paralympic movement.
- Disabled events in alpine and Nordic skiing were held as demonstration sports in some Winter Games (1984 and 1988).

Note on lists and recognition:
- There have been lists of demonstration sports for the Summer and Winter Olympics, with some entries marked in italics to indicate they were not officially recognized by the IOC.
- The Commonwealth Games have also hosted demonstration or exhibition sports at times.
- Since the 2020 Summer Games, host cities can add optional sports with full medals under a new event-based program, separate from demonstration sports.