People are just realizing the US have an Olympic gold in watercolor art

Believe it or not, but Olympic gold medals haven't always been handed out for sporting achievements.

At the 1932 summer Games in Los Angeles, America's Lee Blair proudly showed off his gold after coming out on top in a different kind of event - watercolors and drawings.

Blair, an artist and Disney animator, became an Olympic champion for his 'Rodeo' watercolor painting, which was heavily American-themed.

Another USA artist, Percy Crosby, took the silver medal for his 'Jackknife' effort. 

For the first four decades of the historic competition Olympic officials awarded medals for arts as well as sports, with sculpture, architecture, literature, painting and music previously staged as events as well as watercolors and drawings.

USA has an Olympic gold medal in watercolors on its record from the 1932 Games in LA (Pictured: Artist Peter Spens paints the Eiffel Tower during this summer's Paris Olympics)

Even the most die-hard of Olympic fans are only just realizing that competitors could win medals by showcasing their artistic talent.

'Everyone that I’ve ever spoken to about it has been surprised,' says Richard Stanton, author of 2002 book The Forgotten Olympic Art Competitions.

'I first found out about it reading a history book, when I came across a little comment about Olympic art competitions, and I just said, "what competitions?"'

Stanton went on to write the first - and still the only - English-language book ever published on the subject.

USA has won a total of nine Olympic medals in artistic competitions, with others coming in events such as town planning and graphic works.