ITS THE OLYMPICS! WHAT DO YOU THINK THAT MEANS! HOW GOOD OF AN ATHLET DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?!
ITS THE OLYMPICS! WHAT DO YOU THINK THAT MEANS! HOW GOOD OF AN ATHLET DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?!
I consider the O.P. to be a "REAL SPECIAL OLYMPIAN"
rupp-certified slopesyle wrote:
this thread will be deleted wrote:The winter games include 15 sports, barely more than a third of the summer Olympics. Most of these take a lot of skill and athleticism. Perhaps the weakest of these is curling, but then again what makes golf so great?
Alpine Skiing - 70 to 90 MPH in the downhill; incredible precision in the slalom. Skiing takes skill and strength, and the endurance of 400-800 m athletes; you have to be a great athlete to make the team from the European and North American countries.
Biathlon - an amazing sport to watch; among the most popular in Europe. Marathoner lungs and strength to carry a rifle, while on skis up to 20 km, with precision shooting at targets 50 meters away, all while the clock is ticking.
Bobsleigh - getting more athletic with each Olympics, it's all about the start (and aerodynamics).
Cross Country Skiing - the strength, endurance, and skill required to do this sport puts scrawny unathletic runners to shame.
Curling - see above.
Figure skating - equivalent to gymnastics.
Freestyle Skiing - about like diving and then some; these pepole do some pretty amazing stunts at 40 mph off of huge jumps and all. Don't think it takes an athlete? Try it.
Ice Hockey - it's a big time sport.
Luge - takes nerves and skill to hurl down an icy track at 60-70 mph and not really seeing where you're going.
Nordic Combined - these blokes are nowhere near the level of skiers as in the open events (or usually biathlon), but try jumping the length of a football field one day, at 70 mph and then doing a 15K race the next. Not easy.
Short Track Speed Skating - still new; fun to watch, much more accessible than speed skating.
Skeleton - resurrected event, scarier than luge.
Ski Jumping - they do some awesome things, it's as much of an event as long jumping for sure.
Snowboard - similar to freestyle skiing.
Speed skating - equivalent to swimming.
Can you read? You have missed the point so comprehensively that I question your literacy.
Being "scary", featuring "big time stunts" and "doing some awesome things" are not criteria for Olympic inclusion to my knowledge.
before attempting to participating in some of the above sports a major pre requisite is having some great athleticism. if you are unathletic, you can't do a fair portion of the above (alpine skiing being an example)
same here wrote:
I didn't really know the professional pre-Olympic history of running, but looked up Walter George and am now fascinated by this era!
It developed partly out of running-footman matches. Rich people used to employ a footman to run alongside their carriages. Being rich, they all wanted the best one so they would pit them against each other and make wagers.
qwertyg wrote:
Lets see you make the winter Olympic team. I know I couldn't because you know why? There REAL ATHLETS! WHAT THEY DO IS AMAZINGLY DIFICULT!
You are STILL missing the point.
Look up the criteria for inclusion of a sport in the Olympics.
It does not include difficulty for runners.
Bad Wigins wrote:
same here wrote:I didn't really know the professional pre-Olympic history of running, but looked up Walter George and am now fascinated by this era!
It developed partly out of running-footman matches. Rich people used to employ a footman to run alongside their carriages. Being rich, they all wanted the best one so they would pit them against each other and make wagers.
This is really interesting. I didn't know that fell running came from this history, too!
employed at 50 cents an hour wrote:
genuine random a hole wrote:Just about to post a similar remark. It is truly amazing that this dork thinks he could just "pick up" modern pentathlon and be olympic caliber. I bet he realy believes he could do it.
Seriously. I went to school in upstate NY and was friends with a girl at SUNY Cortland who Jack Daniels was "converting" from an elite runner to a modern pentathlete. She's dedicated the last decade of her life to this event, and she's only been the Olympic alternate.
Should be noted that Jack has an Olympic medal in modern pentathlon
I think the skill of driving the bobsled is pretty important.
I think I first saw this opinion on LRC, and after watching a lot of sports I'd have to agree:
Events in which the outcome is determined by the subjective opinions of judges are not sports. Call them whatever you want, but in the end there's no fair way to determine a winner and loser. Maybe "competition" is a better word than sport. Should competitions be included in the Olympics? I say no, but I'm not calling the shots.
ruzzlwilsn wrote:
I think I first saw this opinion on LRC, and after watching a lot of sports I'd have to agree:
Events in which the outcome is determined by the subjective opinions of judges are not sports. Call them whatever you want, but in the end there's no fair way to determine a winner and loser. Maybe "competition" is a better word than sport. Should competitions be included in the Olympics? I say no, but I'm not calling the shots.
I googled "sport definition" and this was the first hit I got: "an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment."
Sounds like figure skating and gymnastics qualify. If they don't, then neither do football, soccer, or the long jump, as they all have judges.
The word sport comes from the old French word "disport", which means "anything humans find amusing or entertaining"
rupp-certified slopestyle wrote:
Bad Wigins wrote:It developed partly out of running-footman matches. Rich people used to employ a footman to run alongside their carriages. Being rich, they all wanted the best one so they would pit them against each other and make wagers.
This is really interesting. I didn't know that fell running came from this history, too!
I didn't know that fell running was popular today.
imarunr wrote:
OP, have you ever tried cross country skiing? Do you have any idea how much fitness you need to be at the top in that sport? Some of the Olympic medalists in that sport have some of the highest max VO2 scores ever recorded.
Or how about the biathlon? Ever tried to hit a salad plate-sized target 25 meters away when your heart rate is north of 150bpm? I have. It's NOT easy.
I don't think judging whether an Olympic sport is valid, only based on how many people in the world do it, makes much sense. If you've earned the right to compete in the Olympics by being at the top of your sport (in a clean and legal manner), then you deserve to call yourself an Olympian and put whatever tattoo on your body you feel like. IMHO.
Well said. And cross country skiing is simply an awesome sport. As I runner, I like it way more than snowboard or downhill. I highly recommend it.
rupp-certified slopestyle wrote:
Honest question here.
I assume some people on the board must know a "Winter Olympian" or two.
Some of these people compete in sports that have less than 1,000 people doing them IN THE WORLD. At most 20 or so countries have any real participation in sports like ski-jumping.
If a "Winter Olympian" gets an Olympic rings tattoo, can they be charged with FRAUD?
____________________________________
Do you consider running forward a sport?
Many do not.
rupp-certified slopestyle wrote:
Honest question here.
I assume some people on the board must know a "Winter Olympian" or two.
Some of these people compete in sports that have less than 1,000 people doing them IN THE WORLD. At most 20 or so countries have any real participation in sports like ski-jumping.
If a "Winter Olympian" gets an Olympic rings tattoo, can they be charged with FRAUD?
As opposed to those who perform at, for instance:
Archery
Badminton
Beach volley-ball
Dressage
Clay pigeon shooting
Table tennis
Taekwondo?
Trampoline
never worn a singlet wrote:Well said. And cross country skiing is simply an awesome sport. As I runner, I like it way more than snowboard or downhill. I highly recommend it.
X-country skiing is a great sport and offers an incredible workout especially when done on freshly fallen snow without tracks. However, nothing beats the thrill of fast alpine skiing/boarding.
You also forgot:
Most rowing events but especially lightweight double skulls rowing and quadruple skulls rowing
Any sailing event (these include ridiculous events such as Laser sailing, finn sailing, or women's 49er FX sailing)
K1, K2, and K4 sprint kayaking
K1 slalom kayaking
C1,C2 sprint canoeing
C2 slalom kayaking
Kerin sprint cycling
Omnium sprint cycling
BMX biking
Synchronised diving
Rythmic gymnastics
Team epee fencing
Sabre fencing
Team foil fencing
Backstroke swimming (imagine if there was a running backwards event in track and field?)
I could go on and on but the summer olympics is far worse than the winter olympics when it comes to the proliferation of obscure and bizarre "sporting events" in which virtually nobody has the opportunity to participate in, bar a few rich folk.
bmx biking is a reasonable event - it is extremely taxing - like running a 400, requires skill, and the outcome is determined by the finishing order, not judges.don't see why it got so much flack, cooler than the 100m, 200m, 400m, steeple chase, highjump, longjump, pole vault, and weight throws by far
Fan of the winter olympics wrote:
You also forgot:
Most rowing events but especially lightweight double skulls rowing and quadruple skulls rowing
Any sailing event (these include ridiculous events such as Laser sailing, finn sailing, or women's 49er FX sailing)
K1, K2, and K4 sprint kayaking
K1 slalom kayaking
C1,C2 sprint canoeing
C2 slalom kayaking
Kerin sprint cycling
Omnium sprint cycling
BMX biking
Synchronised diving
Rythmic gymnastics
Team epee fencing
Sabre fencing
Team foil fencing
Backstroke swimming (imagine if there was a running backwards event in track and field?)
I could go on and on but the summer olympics is far worse than the winter olympics when it comes to the proliferation of obscure and bizarre "sporting events" in which virtually nobody has the opportunity to participate in, bar a few rich folk.
Archery the one of the oldest and most traditional sports and as such deserves to be in the Olympics.
And, on the same basis, we should be consider jousting, gladiatorial combat, hawking and deer hunting.
Equestrian and the Pentathlon have been part of the Olympics since ancient Greece. Beach volleyball and rhythmic gymnastics were not included.
rupp-certified slopesyle wrote:
Making the Olympics in these things, or medaling, is a miniscule accomplishment compared to doing so in running, swimming, cycling or most summer Olympic sports.
I think I've been clear I'd cut those, too.
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Oh, are you referring to those 3 medals. The running medal. The swimming medal. The cycling medal.
Wait, those 3 sports probably have at least 30 different medals for each gender.