Tug of war, which has not appeared in the Olympics since 1920, is hoping that it will be allowed to stage a demonstration event at London 2012.

The event made its Olympic debut in Paris in 1900 and appeared in every Games until it was dropped 20 years later after the Antwerp Games, won by Britain.

The sport is still recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) but there is no serious chance of it being re-admitted to the program in the near future.

But it does hope to stage a demonstration event when the Games are held in London.

Rugby sevens is also planning to host a tournament to run alongside the Games in 2012 by which time it hopes to have been accepted onto the Olympic Program for 2016.

Alan Knott, a spokesman for the British Tug of War Association, said: 'The sport is recognized by the IOC but we are not yet a full Olympic sport as internationally it does not yet reach the stringent criteria set out by the IOC.

'The Tug of War International Federation (TWIF) has been, and is currently, working on getting the sport re-introduced into the Olympics in the future, and the number of countries joining the TWIF is growing all the time.

“In the meantime, the sport is part of The World Games where it is taking centre stage alongside other IOC recognized sports, that are also looking to get back into the Olympic Games.'

Tug of war sees teams of eight competing against each other to move the opposing side a distance of four metres.

The most famous competition was at the 1908 Olympics in London when a squad from the City of London Police beat a team from the Liverpool Police and the Metropolitan Police 'K' Division took the bronze.

Other Olympic champions included the United States and Sweden

Knott said: 'Our sport is steeped in history, and is very simple and easy to understand.

'It does not require large amounts of funding nor large amounts of specialist equipment.

'It is very inclusive, there are no individual stars, and it embodies the true ideal of dedication and teamwork to get to the top.'

All of the above are very valid reasons for allowing TWIF to stage a demonstartion event during London 2012.