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13. In the 1908 Olympics, pistol dueling was featured as an associate event. The contestants used wax bullets and wore metal helmets for protection.
Wax bullets were used for many purposes, especially by illusionists. When the bullets were fired from the firearm, they would melt away because of the heat and the illusionist would trick the audience that he had caught the bullet. In the early 20th century, people began showing interest in using them for mock duels, which also became part of the 1908 Olympics. The sport soon lost popularity and was discontinued.
14. For the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics, because of the Great Depression, the Brazilian athletes had to sell coffee while travelling to fund their trip to the venue.
At that time, San Pedro authorities charged a dollar per person to disembark at the Port of Los Angeles. Because of that, the organizers only used athletes who had a better chance of winning to sell coffee there. A few other athletes got financed after selling coffee again at San Francisco. The rest of 15 athletes who couldn’t get financed and authorized, had to stay behind in the ship and didn’t compete.
