At the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris, six pigeon racing events were contested.: "Dimanche, [...] Lâcher-concours de pigeons-voyageurs (concours national), à Vincennes." These events have generally not been classified as official, although the IOC has never decided which events were "Olympic" and which were not.

Event The report on the "International Contests of Physical Exercise and of Sports" in Paris in 1900 lists lâcher-concours de pigeons-voyageurs (, in French) occurring on 6 separate sundays: 24 June, 8 July, 29 July, 26 August, 9 September and 16 September 1900, all in the French commune of Vincennes.. The pigeons were originally planned to be released at 10:00 each day, but, as a Dr. Conil reports, actual release times varied depending on the distance pigeons had to cover and the direction of the wind.. Due to additional restrictions, such as not having pigeons flying in opposite directions at the same time, there were "almost as many releases" as there were competing companies, which "could only be of interest to people initiated in our sport", hence the relatively low attendance.

Some dates also included a lâcher-spectacle de pigeons-voyageurs (), events where pigeons were released simultaneously, in the thousands, just for an audience's viewing pleasure. This was due to conflicting needs when planning the competitions: pigeon races are only successful "at an early hour", Dr. Conil writes, while the majority of the public only attends events in the afternoon. Thus, the pigeon release spectacles were added to give the public something to watch that was related to the competitions, while the races themselves were done earlier in the day.

A subcommittee of colombophiles was in charge of preparing "the complete project for racing pigeon competitions".: "Un cinquième sous-comité, composé de colombophiles, était chargé de la mission globale de préparer le projet complet des concours de Pigeons voyageurs." The Fédération Colombophile de la Seine was chosen to be responsible for the competitions.: "Ce système a consisté à confier autant que possible aux grandes associations ou aux sociétés déjà prêtes pour cette œvre, l'exécution des différents concours ressortant de leur compétence. Il a été procédé ainsi [...] pour les concours de pigeons voyageurs, à la Fédération Colombophile de la Seine."

The competition was restricted to French companies established at least away from Paris. Those interested in participating had to commit to sending at least 100 pigeons, which had to arrive by the day before the competition.

Results In total, there were 47 competing companies, totaling 7,721 pigeons. The competitions had a total prize pool of 7,300 francs, reduced to 6,254 after operational costs. This was split and awarded to every participating company, paid on a per pigeon basis at a rounded up value of 0.81 franc each. As such, no "winner" was picked and rewarded separately; the event instead had an emphasis on patriotism and verifying whether pigeons from different regions of France could be used for war.

+ Results of the Pigeon Races of 24 June 1900 Company Origin Numberof pigeons Times Duration Release Return Fédération Agen 100 8:00 18:23 10h 23min Fédération Bordeaux 103 8:03 17:29 9h 26min Pigeons messagers Rive-de-Gier 125 8:05 15:00 6h 55min La Courageuse La Grand-Croix 135 9:00 16:03 7h 3min Cercle colombophile Saint-Étienne 245 9:00 15:53 6h 53min La Colombe La Talaudière 100 9:00 15:32 6h 32min Messager rochefortais Rochefort-sur-Mer 125 9:03 17:19 8h 16min La Rochefortaise Rochefort-sur-Mer 100 9:03 17:20 8h 17min Messager de la patrie Niort 100 9:03 15:58 6h 55min Colombe vannelaise Vannes 138 9:05 18:58 9h 53min Espérance des courriers limousins Limoges 222 9:07 15:27 6h 20min Abeille Rennes 250 10:00 16:02 6h 2min Messager angevin Angers 208 10:02 16:23 6h 21min Messager coutançais Coutances 116 10:04 15:31 5h 27min La Domfrontaise Domfront, Orne 142 10:04 14:35 4h 31min L'Avenir Rosendaël 118 10:06 13:30 3h 24min Total: 16 companies, 2,327 pigeons

+ Results of the Pigeon Races of 8 July 1900 Company Origin Numberof pigeons Times Duration Release Return Le Rapide Saint-Chamond 120 8:03 12:39 4h 36min Estafette lyonnaise Lyon 101 9:00 13:29 4h 29min Hirondelle Lyon 140 9:00 13:29 4h 29min Messagère Calais 183 10:00 14:58 4h 58min Colombophile Saint-Venant 120 10:00 14:00 4h Orléanaise Orléans 100 10:05 11:25 1h 20min Espérance de Landelle Charleval 100 10:10 12:20 2h 10min Fédération Anzin 386 10:15 13:46 3h 31min Total: 8 companies, 1,250 pigeons

+ Results of the Pigeon Races of 29 July 1900 Company Origin Numberof pigeons Times Duration Release Return Éclair Talmont 125 9:45 18:21 8h 36min Messager de l'Océan Les Sables-d'Olonne 112 9:45 19:46 10h 1min Union colombophile La Roche-sur-Yon 152 9:45 18:17 8h 32min Union colombophile Roanne 103 10:00 16:55 6h 55min Messager roannais Roanne 125 10:00 19:01 9h 1min Union Loudun 100 13:20 18:20 5h Voltigeurs de L'Aâ Saint-Omer 100 13:25 18:46 5h 21min Colombophile Le Mans 130 13:35 17:05 3h 30min Courriers nogentais Nogent-le-Rotrou 135 13:35 15:42 2h 7min Fédération Reims 515 13:50 16:51 3h 1min Colombe ébroïcienne Évreux 150 13:55 15:42 1h 47min Total: 11 companies, 1,747 pigeons

+ Results of the Pigeon Races of 26 August 1900 Company Origin Numberof pigeons Times Duration Release Return Ramier dauphinois Rives 100 7:30 17:15 9h 45min Messager niortais Niort 100 9:00 14:30 5h 30min Éclaireurs Nancy 100 9:50 15:10 5h 20min Expresse Calais 54 10:00 14:44 4h 44min Fraternelle Boulogne-sur-Mer 166 10:00 13:45 3h 45min Colombe patriote Le Havre 100 10:05 12:31 2h 26min Ramier Amiens 174 10:10 12:29 2h 19min Pigeon messager Épernay 170 10:20 12:40 2h 20min Vedette Mourmelon 120 10:20 13:37 3h 17min Total: 9 companies, 1,084 pigeons

+ Results of the Pigeon Races of 9 September 1900 Company Origin Numberof pigeons Times Duration Release Return La Messagère Mouzon 126 10:00 13:43 3h 43min Total: 1 company, 126 pigeons

+ Results of the Pigeon Races of 16 September 1900 Company Origin Numberof pigeons Times Duration Release Return Union Roubaix 252 10:00 12:44 2h 44min Fédération Rouen 935 10:10 11:39 1h 29min Total: 2 companies, 1,187 pigeons

See also Pigeon shooting at the Olympics

Notes

References

Bibliography

External links GB Athletics - Olympic Games Medallists - Other Sports - Demonstration & Unofficial Sports