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?
Perhaps you could Tweet or email one and ask?
Well as a 4 time medalist in the sport of curling ( you might know me as " DA BROOM MAN " I am 100% Olympian and the Olympic spirit runs long real long...
3/10 BTW
Have you seen Alpine skiing? The downhill event? It's more athletic than anything runners do.
I think the OP has a valid point. I don't think this is curling. Some sports are clearly athletic and have large participating. For example most of the skiing events and xc skiing have huge participation. I know almost nobody that hasn't skied at least a handful of winters and I live 3-4 hours from the nearest slopes. Speed skating also has fair participation around the world, even if it isn't as popular as some other sports.
On the other hand, curling is a perfect example of something that a lot of people will have 0 respect for, and a lot of people (such as me) would think somebody a complete douche for getting an olympic rings tattoo if they went in curling.
I don't think this is limited to winter sports though. Summer olympics has examples of this as well. For example, modern pentathlon. I was toying with the idea of picking this up because it seemed like low hanging fruit and it would be cool to make it to the olympics in something. Then I realize I would always feel embarrassed if people referred to me as an olympian for going in something like that, because it is extremely low participation and only really accessible to upper middle class or higher participants, even if it is a somewhat athletic event (fencing, running, swimming are all legitimately athletic events in my mind).
I think winter olympics gets a bad rap because there is a higher percentage of events in the middle or bottom of legitimacy.
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?
Honest answer is do you consider yourself a prick for this?
runnerdnerd wrote:
a lot of people (such as me)
Everything is not about you, kid. Weren't you the same ones who decided to come up with your own standards of what "sub-elite" is?
A lot of people (such as me) think it's cool to train seriously in a sport like curling in spite of douches (such as you) trying to tear them down for not competing in one of the 8-10 sports they consider "legitimate."
runnerdnerd wrote:
I think the OP has a valid point. I don't think this is curling. Some sports are clearly athletic and have large participating. For example most of the skiing events and xc skiing have huge participation. I know almost nobody that hasn't skied at least a handful of winters and I live 3-4 hours from the nearest slopes. Speed skating also has fair participation around the world, even if it isn't as popular as some other sports.
On the other hand, curling is a perfect example of something that a lot of people will have 0 respect for, and a lot of people (such as me) would think somebody a complete douche for getting an olympic rings tattoo if they went in curling.
I don't think this is limited to winter sports though. Summer olympics has examples of this as well. For example, modern pentathlon. I was toying with the idea of picking this up because it seemed like low hanging fruit and it would be cool to make it to the olympics in something. Then I realize I would always feel embarrassed if people referred to me as an olympian for going in something like that, because it is extremely low participation and only really accessible to upper middle class or higher participants, even if it is a somewhat athletic event (fencing, running, swimming are all legitimately athletic events in my mind).
I think winter olympics gets a bad rap because there is a higher percentage of events in the middle or bottom of legitimacy.
^This^ 100% Accurate and well written post. What are you doing here?
No, they don't consider themselves "REAL OLYMPIANS." In fact, funny you should mention this, because I had lunch with Apolo Anton Ohno the other day and when I asked him if I could see one of his medals, he laughed and said, "What medals? Oh, you mean those races I won? Those aren't real! It was just a massive faux reality marketing campaign by Wheaties and Dancing with the Stars."
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.
For example, modern pentathlon. I was toying with the idea of picking this up because it seemed like low hanging fruit and it would be cool to make it to the olympics in something. Then I realize I would always feel embarrassed if people referred to me as an olympian for going in something like that, because it is extremely low participation and only really accessible to upper middle class or higher participants, even if it is a somewhat athletic event (fencing, running, swimming are all legitimately athletic events in my mind).
A rare glimpse into the mind of a LRCer. I know I could make the Olympics in this sport, but it seemed too easy so I didn't do it.
You can't make this stuff up.
Here in Minnesota the only real sport I know is hockey.
clapclapclap wrote:
A rare glimpse into the mind of a LRCer. I know I could make the Olympics in this sport, but it seemed too easy so I didn't do it.
You can't make this stuff up.
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.
genuine random a hole wrote:
clapclapclap wrote:A rare glimpse into the mind of a LRCer. I know I could make the Olympics in this sport, but it seemed too easy so I didn't do it.
You can't make this stuff up.
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.
genuine random a hole wrote:
clapclapclap wrote:A rare glimpse into the mind of a LRCer. I know I could make the Olympics in this sport, but it seemed too easy so I didn't do it.
You can't make this stuff up.
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.
I bet he's not even good enough at the running part.
On second thought, 6.5/10... it shouldn't be rated that high, but I gave a serious reply to one of the responses so it's my own fault.
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.
75 posts by tomorrow morning. Well done.
Weary wrote:
Have you seen Alpine skiing? The downhill event? It's more athletic than anything runners do.
I'm obviously not talking about the classic alpine events. These have a very broad base of participation with millions of people from around the world doing it every year and tens of thousands competing.
I'm talking about things like luge, bobsleigh, skeleton, etc.
These are just weird things, relatively recently made up, that only a few countries and probably a few thousand people do worldwide AT MOST.
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.
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.
Like modern pentathlon or rhythmic gymnastics?