Dick Pound suggests Triple Jump get axed from the Olympics - Seb Coe says no way (also defends race-walk)

Surely this thread is in jest. Or Dick Pound ought to have some sense pounded into him.

How about axing the opening ceremonies? These as well as the closing ceremonies have too many U.S athletes in them :)

Absolutely this 110%. You said everything right. We have to give people something to follow and something to cheer for. Also, like you said, adding alcohol and gambling in the mix are a sure fire way to increase support.

Track and Field is the most popular sport in the Olympics. Millions of people don't watch anything else. It would make sense to add events, XC, the half-marathon, the DMR and dwarf tossing.

Swimming has multiple events over the same distance but so does the Paralympics and the Olympic Stadium was sold out every day.

Why not add youth, masters and veterans' events in the week before full T&F starts?

In this thread: cut all the events Americans aren't good in, or that we don't understand, replace them with team events (heavily biased towards large countries, such as America) or cross country (removed from Olympics many years ago).

No_Name wrote:

I wish they would have a 100 m speed walk.

Not a bad idea. After all, you have the 100m breast stroke in swimming ...

Couldn't you make the argument that triple jump should be simply kept in The Olympics because it really gets any airing time?

If the reason they cut the sport is because of the "presentation " Then simply give less time to triple jump allow the athletes still compete in the sport they love

Of course it gets airing time, just not NBC, who's coverage of track and field is garbage that's been crapped on by a diarrhea stricken hippopotamus for 21 successive days.

no to Dick Pound wrote:

No_Name wrote:

I wish they would have a 100 m speed walk.

Not a bad idea. After all, you have the 100m breast stroke in swimming ...

Swimming is so slow, it's boring. Think if they swam around the 400 meter track. How long would a lap take? They should add some rockets to speed it up. Or a strong current.

Athletics should have more events, not less. But not stuff like 150 meters and 2 miles, because then runners could avoid competition. But things like backwards running, one legged running, backwards jumping, horizontal pole vault etc.

why cut anything ?

add events.

the challenge is the enormous amount of money (last winter olympics at %50 Billion ...)

have 3 locations for winter and 3 for summer, rotate them, improve infrastructure, don't create it, and the problem is solved.

No to Dick Pound wrote:

rojo wrote:

I always think all of the ridiculous swimming events are out of control (how many relays do they have?) but then they probably view the 47 aspects of track as absurd in similar fashion.

I respect Dick Pound for his fight against dopers but in its current format, swimming is absolutely ridiculous sport to have in the Olympics. Backstroke? Imagine having backwards running races over 100m, 200m, 400m etc .. Butterfly? Same thing except it will be a running race where you have to wave your arms around your head. Medley? 100m backwards, 100m waving your hands around your head etc ... These events do not belong in the Olympics, they belong in the Xgames/extreme sports world along with tower running, power stilts running etc.

Really? You call out the variety of swimming events while defending T&F?

When you take that perspective, the fact that we have the Hammer Throw, the Shot Put, the Javelin, and the Discus is absurd. It's literally throwing four different objects.

On top of that, we have racewalking, which is effectively running in extremely energy-inefficient manners, along with the Steeplechase, which consists of running around a track while jumping over barriers and for some reason, jumping into a puddle of water.

In fact, nothing Swimming can muster up even compares to the degree of ridiculousness that the Steeplechase presents to general viewers. Have you ever tried describing the event to someone who doesn't follow T&F? There's no way to present it without making it sound ridiculous.

Dude, steeple is awesome! The barriers weigh like 1000 pounds, and stuff..

Seyta wrote:

No to Dick Pound wrote:

I respect Dick Pound for his fight against dopers but in its current format, swimming is absolutely ridiculous sport to have in the Olympics. Backstroke? Imagine having backwards running races over 100m, 200m, 400m etc .. Butterfly? Same thing except it will be a running race where you have to wave your arms around your head. Medley? 100m backwards, 100m waving your hands around your head etc ... These events do not belong in the Olympics, they belong in the Xgames/extreme sports world along with tower running, power stilts running etc.

Really? You call out the variety of swimming events while defending T&F?

On top of that, we have racewalking, which is effectively running in extremely energy-inefficient manners...

Swimming has three versions of this at every distance, plus relays.

Seyta wrote:

In fact, nothing Swimming can muster up even compares to the degree of ridiculousness that the Steeplechase presents to general viewers. Have you ever tried describing the event to someone who doesn't follow T&F? There's no way to present it without making it sound ridiculous.

Swimming IS the most ridiculous.

Exhibit A)

Those full wetsuits that are now banned, but which they used to get all those records and medals.

Exhibit B)

The alternate strokes are now "judged" events. Breaststroke needs to go away. See this:

Exhibit C)

The swimmers in the non-freestyle events are fastest when they spend over half the pool UNDER THE WATER!

T&f is not popular, but the second anyone suggest making changes all you people scream about how you can't make any changes.

We cant just keep doing the same thing. T&F has a history of changing events, I think the redundant events should be trimmed.

I agree regarding reducing redundant events, but I don't think track needs to be "popular". Popularity has already ruined MLB and appears to be doing the same things no to the NFL and NBA.

THE NIGGAS NAME IS DICK POUND.....

Dick

Pound

hahah

you have to be kidding me wrote:

THE NIGGAS NAME IS DICK POUND.....

Dick

Pound

hahah

Bet you are white

[quote]aquafina wrote:

T&f is not popular, but the second anyone suggest making changes all you people scream about how you can't make any changes.'

T&F is popular at the Olympics though

The Diamond Leaguue has drastically cut the programme- has that made it any more popular! All you get is commentators yattering inbetween events

There are so many Micky Mouse events outside T&F they could look at them 1st

You can run the triple jump at the same time as track events as well - you can't do that in other sports

Swimming does not have the global popularity of track and field. It's not an important sport in anywhere near the number of countries that track is.

Our view in the U.S. gets skewed because NBC is very hung up on covering sports in which young white people don't wear a lot of clothes (beach volleyball, anyone?)

But swimming as a spectator sport is, pardon the expression, a washout. The races are so close and so much of the action is underwater that it's virtually impossible to gauge the contest aspect of the 100-meter races until they're over. And the 50? Forget it.