Damn! That one was mine.
Another vote for street hockey. I loved playing that in gym so much I played field hockey in high school.
“Penis.” “PENIS!” "PENIS!!!"
We called that “smear”, and it was what I came on to suggest. I was actually pretty good at it despite my middling size, since my short legs made it hard to take me off my feet.
And then shoot anybody who moves on “red”?
That’s only for the Olympics held in Korea.
slaughterball? Is that a childhood game or more it’s raining during high school game? FWIW, I loved it
A highly competitive game of marbles, played in a circle, scratched in the dirt.
In the Winter Games, crack the whip
Statue tag & SPUD
Is it a game if you put Mentos in Coke?
Lawn darts?
Tetherball?
King of the Hill would be awesome.
Another vote for dodge ball.
Then on to some street hockey.
Rounded out with spin the bottle.
What about Throwball? Here is an extensive explanation of the game from the International Throwball Federation.
I had learned to play lawn darts before I ever saw a javeline competition. To this day, the latter still looks like the former to me. Alas, lawn darts are banned, aren’t they?
Leap frog. Two man leap frog teams racing for 100 yards would be something to see.
It could be a team event, teams taking turns to be “householders” and “knockers”, as well as individual medals. Extra points for technical merit and inventive methods of both knocking and responding.
Or you could have a freestyle marathon event around different streets in the host city, so that everyone can join in the Olympic spirit. Or not.
Stratego.
I can believe it… Four Square was going to be my suggestion too.
As odd as it sounds, some of us got to playing it again in college, and we were all former high school athletes of one stripe or another, and it was surprisingly fast, athletic, and competitive.
I could totally see it as an Olympic sport, although I suspect it would be one of those ones where there’s a lot of posturing/mind game stuff for a while, and then a really frantic flurry of activity.
Pogo sticks. I guess, strictly speaking, not a childhood game, but I’d watch a Pogosticks competition.
If that doesn’t qualify, then Statues. Or sack races.