# Pigeon racing at the 1900 Summer Olympics

At the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris, six pigeon racing events were contested. 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 (lit. 'homing pigeon release competition', 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 (lit. 'homing pigeon release spectacle'), 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". The Fédération Colombophile de la Seine was chosen to be responsible for the competitions.
The competition was restricted to French companies established at least 80 kilometres (50 mi) 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 | Number of pigeons | Times | Times | Duration |
| Company | Origin | Number of pigeons | Release | Return | Duration |
| 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 | Number of pigeons | Times | Times | Duration |
| Company | Origin | Number of pigeons | Release | Return | Duration |
| 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 | Number of pigeons | Times | Times | Duration |
| Company | Origin | Number of pigeons | Release | Return | Duration |
| 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 | Number of pigeons | Times | Times | Duration |
| Company | Origin | Number of pigeons | Release | Return | Duration |
| 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 | Number of pigeons | Times | Times | Duration |
| Company | Origin | Number of pigeons | Release | Return | Duration |
| 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 | Number of pigeons | Times | Times | Duration |
| Company | Origin | Number of pigeons | Release | Return | Duration |
| Union | Roubaix | 252 | 10:00 | 12:44 | 2h 44min |
| Fédération | Rouen | 935 | 10:10 | 11:39 | 1h 29min |
| Total: 2 companies, 1,187 pigeons ||||||