Ballooning, using gas balloons (which require no power, fuel or motors), was on the Summer Olympic Games programme in 1900.[1][2] The aeronautical pioneer Henry de La Vaulx set two world records for distance and duration piloting a balloon flight.
Nearly all events at the 1900 Games that satisfied four retrospective selection criteria — restricted to amateurs, open to all nations, open to all competitors and without handicapping — are now regarded as Olympic events.[3] Although the ballooning events listed below met these criteria, they have generally not been classified as official.[4]
- ^ Bill Mallon, Jeroen Heijmans (2011). Historical Dictionary of the Olympic Movement. Scarecrow Press. p. 382. ISBN 9780810875227.
- ^ "Olympic games medalists - other sports".
- ^ Mallon, Bill (1998). The 1900 Olympic Games, Results for All Competitors in All Events, with Commentary. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc. pp. 25–26. ISBN 978-0-7864-4064-1.
- ^ Lennartz, Karl; Teutenberg, Walter (1995). Olympische Spiele 1900 in Paris. Kassel, Germany: Agon-Sportverlag. p. 147. ISBN 3-928562-20-7.
In many works, it is read that the IOC later met to decide which events were Olympic and which were not. This is not correct and no decision has ever been made. No discussion of this item can be found in the account of any Session.