It would be great if i can compete in the past events and practice, i dont see an option to enter and old contest.
You may find some of them under SOLO > PUZZLES, SOLO > OPTIMIZATION and most probably, MULTI > BOT PROGRAMMING.
it would have been great if we have a compete option just under events-> past → select an event
But why? The leaderboard for a past event is locked. The same games (for SOLO > OPTIMIZATION and MULTI > BOT PROGRAMMING) have separate, ongoing leaderboards where new players are ranked as well.
Nevertheless, there are three past puzzle events where you can find and play by clicking their links on the PAST EVENTS page:
https://www.codingame.com/contests/spring-challenge-2024-fiverr
https://www.codingame.com/contests/summer-challenge-2023
https://www.codingame.com/contests/winter-challenge-2023