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Just trying to keep this light, but - trampolining? Really? I thought that was just something ten year olds did on a Saturday morning.
Pentathlon - to me that looks like something you decide to take up if you aren't much good at anything (and hope you'll be vaguely good at them all combined). Has anyone ever met anyone who does it.
BMX... possibly controversial but I really don't see how BMX is in it and not DH.
😀
Did you put your Daily Mail down to type that?
Horsedancing
BMX... possibly controversial but I really don't see how BMX is in it and not DH.
Same reasoning the 100m is in, but the 60m isn't.
Sports that involve doping or other forms of cheating
Golf.
Modern Pentathlon has to be in. It was invented purely for the Olympics.
Soccerball. We get enough of it for the other 3 years and 49 weeks.
Cycling - i thought riding a bicycle around a bit was just something ten year olds did on a Saturday morning
And in a historical context, the olympics isn't always about athletic sport, From wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_competitions_at_the_1948_Summer_Olympics
Including town planning! (well I suppose it was post war)
I think the sports that already have large commercial globe spanning championships
Golf, Tennis, Football, Basketball. Those sorts of sports.
I don't rate BMX as a spectator sport tbh. Too short, too many crashes, not interesting enough to watch.
Anything with judging in it. Too subjective.
Stick to sports that win by quickest/longest/highest etc.
Anything that needs a panel of judges to tell you who won.
Horse dancing, messing about in the pool and in the gym.
If its not obvious to the spectators its not sport. Also anything that can be done it trousers is not a sport - so Golf is out.
i'd love to see olympic stone-skimming.
Sports that involve doping or other forms of cheating
Well, that'll cut the time the games take and infrastructure needed somewhat I suppose.
Modern Pentathlon has to be in. It was invented purely for the Olympics.
That was ancient pentathlon back in Greek and Roman times. Modern pentathlon has been tweaked a lot for the Olympics.
Moaning and whinging, hang on thats something people shouldn't do 😉 plenty of variety, love to see more included without ditching stuff.
Im looking forward to CX in the winter games. I reckon CX has more people racing and following globally than some of the sports represented.
Anything where the Olympics isn't considered the biggest thing to win:
- Golf
- Tennis
- Football
- Rugby
I'd trim down some of the sports where there's loads of different classes (and thus medals):
- Sailing
- Track cycling
- Swimming
I don't rate BMX as a spectator sport tbh. Too short, too many crashes, not interesting enough to watch
yeah I love BMX but it needs to be several laps!
Sports that should be disallowed because children do them on a Saturday:
running
jumping
swimming
football
riding bikes
fighting
Sports that I personally don't care for and therefore should be BANNED:
Golf
Horse dancing
Showjumping - or at least give the medal to the horse
Soccerball. We get enough of it for the other 3 years and 49 weeks.
😀 😀 😆 fully agreed.
Anything with judging in it. Too subjective.
Also agreed. I think boxing should only be in if they carry on til someone gets knocked out. But I suppose they can't ditch gymnastics and diving and all of those too.
Sports that should be disallowed because children do them on a Saturday:running
jumping
swimming
football
riding bikes
fighting
But the thing is, the above actually are sports 😉 .
Although I detest football.
Anything that is 'synchronised'.
Maybe there should be a 'Mountain' olympics, move the XC, road, canoe/kayak slalom, and add in fell running, CX, climbing, walking (without the silly rules, just make it an ultramarathon)
I think the sports that already have large commercial globe spanning championships
And cycling?
And athletics (debatable, but if there wasn't the Olympics the world champs would probably step into the vacuum)?
And, well, any sport, there can't be many sports which don't have their own world championships, and the winners are always either state sponsored or pro by commercial means.
Anything where the Olympics isn't considered the biggest thing to win
This +1
Also reduce the number of variations on the same event. It starts to sound like the school sports day where they want to give everyone the biggest chance to win.
I reserve the right to rescind that if they include the egg and spoon or sack race as I won those at my primary school every year.
I always thought that modern pentathlon was the skills needed by an officer (when they still used horses etc)
All the ones where the men or women were off competing in other events before the olympucs were over!!
Anything with judging in it. Too subjective.
Actually most judged sports are pretty objective, it's not all about pointing your toes, and smiling at the panel. It's mostly a technical assessment.
BMX
Rugby
Golf
Tennis
Paralympics should be integrated back into the Olympics
Scateboarding is in for 2020, daft
Modern Pentathlon I love, designed to mimic the skills a top cavalry officer would need.
Anything where it is played professionally!
Football, Golf, Basketball, tennis, etc.
Who remembers when the olympic athletes weren't allowed to receive a payment for their sport only sponsorship?
Linford Christie and the rest had trust funds until they either retired or turned pro - at which point they weren't then eligible to compete as the Olympics were for amateurs.
It wasn't until 1986 when the US pressured the IOC into allowing then to field Pro's against the eastern block state sponsored athletes.
Low and behold they then went and fielded a full NBA pro squad in 92 amongst others. 🙄
Football. Or if it has to be in, a more entertaining and faster version, along the lines of what Rugby 7s is to Rugby.
It's an entirely pointless debate, because, really, every single sport is stupid; it's someone spending their whole life at being really good at something that has no real practical purpose.
That's not say the Olympics shouldn't happen, it definitely should because it brings a huge amount of enjoyment to lots of people
Anything where it is played professionally!
Most of the top sports are done professionally, cycling, tennis, athletics, rugby 7s, it means the quality of the competition is much better - remember when rugby union players all needed day jobs?
In terms of football isn't it the case that a certain number of players must be under 23?
It's not a sport if you can compete at the highest level whilst wearing flip flops. (wheelchair sports excepted)
I'm looking forward to Crossfit being part of the 2024 games
BMX... possibly controversial but I really don't see how BMX is in it and not DH.
Appealing to the youth audience is a big part of the future for the Olympics, hence adding events like BMX. I think Skateboarding is in the next Olympics. Think it's a good thing.
In answer to the OP... I'd vote out Golf (though it would cost Team GB a gold!)
- Sailing
- Track cycling
- Swimming
You don't get the same person competing in different sailing classes though and winning multiple medals. Sailing actually seems a pretty reasonable spread.
I think Skateboarding is in the next Olympics.
I believe surfing is too, which could cause problems for landlocked host countries.
Maybe there should be a 'Mountain' olympics, move the XC, road, canoe/kayak slalom, and add in fell running, CX, climbing, walking (without the silly rules, just make it an ultramarathon)
you forgot camping -
fastest person to leg it down to the toilet block and get back into bed
quickest time from parking the car to opening a beer
pitching a tent in the dark
etc etc
😀
you forgot camping -
Quickest at getting a four and two year old to sleep in the same tent. That would be a challenging event.
My rules for inclusion:-
An Olympic Gold has to be the biggest thing in the sport
You can't do it in jeans
You have to sweat through physical effort doing it.
It's not scored by judges
It's got to be a popular sport in at least 10 nations - appreciate 'popular' is a bit subject and might need tweaking.
I'd lob out all shooting, golf, horse dancing and football first and go from there. Also not mad keen on surfing and climbing coming in. Surfing is a brilliant brilliant pastime but not convinced it should be a competition. The variate of climbing (combined bouldering, lead climbing and speed climbing) is not even a sport at the moment.
An Olympic Gold has to be the biggest thing in the sport
This
I get individual diving but I don't get how 2 people diving together became a sport.
It's not scored by judges
That's effectively every sport though...all of them have panels to make sure you haven't cheated, or cut the course or have got dodgy equipment or to make sure you haven't taken drugs.
First across the line, or a goal/try/point can always be changed by someone.
Handball, is it popular in other countries? Seemed to be on telly in France whenever I tried watching the Olympics.
Seems to be only UK (and probably Ireland) where Handball is not popular. Popular pretty much everywhere else in Europe. Often see it on German telly.
The one's I'd ban are...
synchronised swimming, rythmic gymnastics, boxing, etc. (edit: and football too)
BMX not sure about. Probably replace it.
Then bring in Squash and Bowls, just like in the commonwealth games
As all the pro sports are in these days, I think they should drop the freestyle wrestling and replace it with Professional Wrestling. Cos it's slightly more erotic.
And why, pray tell, would people want BMX dropped? It was the most entertaining thing I saw all week cos of the crashes an that.
I'd take out:
The twiddling sticks with string on.
Sycronised drowning.
The arse kicking.
The hugging each other.
The hitting on the head one.
On the camping front can we add Mosquito killing. That'd almost certainly be a Swedish or Norwegian Gold. Scotland for a distant 3rd. (After they leave the UK of course)
Football, can't believe I forgot football.
Handball, is it popular in other countries? Seemed to be on telly in France whenever I tried watching the Olympics.
😀
Given they had won Gold's the prior two Olympics and its a big sport in France and elsewherenot surprising. Also all the best athletics was on Canal+ which is subscription 🙁 we are lucky in the UK that isn't allowed
Surfing is a brilliant brilliant pastime but not convinced it should be a competition
Surfing has had competitions pretty much since its inception.
An Olympic Gold has to be the biggest thing in the sport
That's road cycling out then. I think for their palmares most riders would love a gold medal but if you were to ask them to trade a Tour de France (or maybe a monument) for one I bet they'd say no.
Golf, football, rugby....
Any sport that the Olympic gold is not the pinnacle..
Golf, Tennis - world class players cited conflicting schedules and didn't attend - compares to cycling where pro' events caused training/recovery/injury problems but the top players turned up
no problem keeping/adding lots of sports that I don't personally understand or enjoy watching but pretty sure all pretty important to those that do
didn't realise the modern pentathlon was based on the skills required by a cavalry officer - looking forward to more of the same - maybe make the games a bit more underclass - scumathon:
[i]
break in
ride it like your stole it
sniffer dog evasion
parkour
oi who are you looking at[/i]
Agree with the comments about the sports where the Olympics isn't the biggest thing to win.
For me I'd drop: -
Football
Golf
Tennis
Basketball
I'd also drop equestrian - I found the dressage to be particularly pretty dull viewing
I'd definitely like to see Squash added
you forgot camping -
Quickest at getting a four and two year old to sleep in the same tent. That would be a challenging event.
I know the Olympics has actually just finished...but if there are any future gold medal contenders in the house for this please let us have some of your secrets...preferably before the weekend!
I don't rate BMX as a spectator sport tbh. Too short, too many crashes, not interesting enough to watch.
Can you ever really have too many crashes?
Oh and I don't think its fair that every member of a basketball or rugby team gets a medal. Think they should have one to share between them. Some athletes seem to have to work much much harder to get medals compared to others, especially runners or swimmers versus someone on a team sport.
I agree surfing is fun to watch, but don't think it should be joining the Olympics.
maybe make the games a bit more underclass - scumathon:
needs:
[i]did you spill my pint?[/i]
to qualify for Olympics
don't rate BMX as a spectator sport tbh. Too short, too many crashes, not interesting enough to watch
To be fair it's better than the flippy, spinny, hippoty hoppity half pipe bmx variant that's not 'yet' in the Olympics.
That's road cycling out then.
That wouldn't phase me too much. Olympics means track for me when it comes to two wheels. Organisers might disagree though - cycle road race, marathon and Triathlon always seem to be used as an opportunity to show off the surrounding area on the TV to potential tourists.
I am surprised I'm the only person so far to mention shooting - just can't my head around it even being a sport (rather than a pastime) let alone an Olympic sport. A 'sport' that got to dish out 15 gold medals this year. And in an event where you'd have thought gender difference could be minimised it's also one of the most biased with a 6/9 medal distribution. Why do they even need separate male and female categories?
The handball final was really exciting - so many goals!
Anything that is 'synchronised'.
Synchronised diving was one of the best events.
Horse dancing, and not because I dislike it, but because the rider does relatively little compared to the training the horse has to do etc.
Ribbon dancing 'gymnastics'. Just wtf.
I'm looking forward to Crossfit being part of the 2024 games
Screw that. Its bad enough all the slightly plump girls on my FB feed who's every second post is about bloody crossfit...
If it became an olympic sport it would be unbearable...
Can't believe handball is a sport worth putting on telly ! What a pile of steaming rubbish, when I saw it on TV in France I thought it was a joke, is this a new sport ??
It's like that Frisby crap, one of my old work mates played that at international level ?? It's almost like someone who was crap at every other sport was desperate to win at something.
They should defo knock out all the crap ones and stick DH in. That would be bar far one of the top events,
I think we should all chip in on a bribe and see if we can make it happen. (Someone may have to have sex with a fat bold German Man at some point to help drive the decision through)
What a pile of steaming rubbish, when I saw it on TV in France I thought it was a joke, is this a new sport ??
It's ancient.
A bit like football (which is a pile of steaming rubbish) but they actually score goals. Or basketball with a massive goal. Or hockey without weapons but can only score outside the D rather than inside.
*bald?
Crossfit's an interesting choice. You could argue it's of a similar vein to triathlon, with the best overall athlete being most likely to win, but the workouts used would have to be chosen to make it a fair event. Triathlon has it lucky in that the swim, ride and run are impartial.
I think shooting should remain in the Olympics. We used to be good at it and I think could be again if there was the political will for it to have investment. It's not likely though, so I think we'll have to just put up with a farmer doing trap part-time to represent us.
Maybe Tokyo 2020 will bring us Olympic Sumo.
nicko74 - Member
Horse dancing, and not because I dislike it, but because the rider does relatively little compared to the training the horse has to do etc.
You do realise that its the [i]rider[/i] getting the horse to do it all don't you?
Have you any idea how difficult it is to get a horse to do that for you?
And in a historical context, the olympics isn't always about athletic sport,.......Including town planning!
Has anyone pointed out that we are Olympic champions at Art (Oils and Watercolours) - Alfred Thomson - Gold, Engravings and etchings - Silver, Sculpture - Silver, Relief - Bronze.
I too agree that BMX should be dropped ... Bit silly seeing somebody older than 15yrs old pretending to race on one.
Also leave out Dressage, synchronised swimming, golf, tennis and basically any woman's events except beach volleyball.
I'm not sure about bringing Surfing / Skateboarding in because again it's like gymnastics, and reliant on judging.
Anything with bloody horses!!!
You do realise that its the rider getting the horse to do it all don't you?
Next you'll be claiming the horse shouldn't even get a medal!
I've seen events where the rider falls off and the horse just carries on.
And why do the boxers have to be amateurs yet multi-millionaire golfists, tennisers and bikers are allowed to compete?
Muhammad Ali could have won gold medals at 4 consecutive games.
And why do the boxers have to be amateurs
I'm not certain that pro boxers would do all that well in a tournament of multiple 3 round bouts anyway, plus would you risk NOT getting a gold medal if you were a pro boxer? Imagine the headline, "pro boxers gets arse handed to him on a plate by a Cuban amateur..."
I'm sure the promoters would love that.
The IOC also need to expand the categories of competitors:-
Men, women, hermaphrodites and cross-dressers.
It's like that Frisby crap, one of my old work mates played that at international level ?? It's almost like someone who was crap at every other sport was desperate to win at something.
Says someone called skiboy, a 'sport' that just involves the invoking of the God of gravity to help you slide downhill on a couple of greasy planks a bit faster than someone else.
I mean, just how difficult could it be?
I've watched several Ultimate Frisbee games, and it was pretty exciting, very fast, and the accuracy needed to get a disc to team-mates in seconds was up there with the likes of basketball.
I'd love to do it, but iffy knees and a basic lack of any sort of stamina counts me out, I used to be able throw a Frisbee reasonably well, but to do it fast and with accuracy is a real skill.
Any sport where the course/field of play is not standard/same every Olympics, so it has no influence on the sport persons performance.
Yes this rules out a lot of sports I like
Same as a number of others have already said:
Football
Tennis
Basketball
Golf
Horse Dancing (they can keep the jumping)
Also the cycling road races (not that I dislike them, but because i dont think athletes who are in some cases on million £ contracts should be there)
Anything that needs a panel of judges to tell you who won.
This.
And golf. Is there anything more tedious than televised golf? Even the ****ing road time trial (essentially footage of someone one a bike riding on their own and examining their stem in minute detail) is better.
[quote=fifeandy ]Also the cycling road races (not that I dislike them, but because i dont think athletes who are in some cases on million £ contracts should be there)
Well we can also ditch the athletics and swimming on that basis. In fact anything which has mass popularity, so we just end up with the uninteresting sports.
Of course what then happens is that the people doing the boring sport you're left with get lots of publicity and million £ contracts...
