[Closed] Which "sport" would be the easiest to get an olympic place for?

I'm going for archery.

pistol shooting?

Mtb. Seriously.
Get proper fit first though

I reckon a few on here would have a decent shout of a medal in the mtb 😉 (based on what they tell us anyway)

[img] [/img]
this is the US statistics..

Equestrian for Man and Handball for Women.....
both closely followed by cycling.

10 - take it you've never lifted a bow then?? Incredibly competitive at club level in uk.

In all seriousness, at this olympics it was handball. There was no GB team to speak of before the games so I think they held open trials or something.

pistol shooting?

Seriously??? Sorry but it shows complete ignorance at just how good you have to be in another sport but you can make flippant comments. When I was competing many years ago to compete in "major" championships you had to achieve scores that broke UK records. To compete in International events such as the Olympics you had to break world records. So put that into context against another sport such as the 100m race hey. Our sprinters had to achieve a time that few people could ever ever do so please understand, shooting is exactly the same.

Horse prancing....

To compete in International events such as the Olympics you had to break world records.

Seems a bit odd to me .. is every competitor really a word record breaker or do you mean get close? Or are shooting world records dead easy to break?

roman greco wrestling 😀

To compete in International events such as the Olympics you had to break world records.

Think you're confusing pistol shooting with hyperbole. Hyperbole isn't a recognised olympic sport yet, but if if was it would be twice as difficult as all the other sports put together, even if you included hyperbole as one of them. 🙂

World Records are set in certain championships, just as in any sport like running so you could possibly break a record but "unofficial" if you know what I mean. You had to get very close but breaking them sort of guaranteed a position in a major championship and that's all I'm trying say.
I'm sure there are plenty of people on shooting forums how think it would be easy race in the Olympics in the mtb race after watching todays race but we know it's not that easy.

Have to say, I too am struggling with Hadge's post.

Must be a lot of record breaking in that sport.

If Bolt runs 9.5 seconds in training it won't count as it's not at a recognised event - now do you understand? But it's not that easy and you know that. What I was trying say is people who don't do other sports really don't understand what's required to compete at the very very top and be involved in such things as the Olympics. Just as any idiot can ride a bike, any idiot can shoot - but to compete at the very very top level isn't easy and we all know that. I've done shooting at the top level and I know racers who compete at the top level and it's NOT easy to do.

I'm still going with shooting. It's basically holding something very well isn't it?

I think hadge is trying to say that you had to be getting the equivalent of a world record breaking score in practice before you were considered for the team. I have no doubt the Bolt will be getting near the 9 second mark in practice, but has no chance of ever getting there when under the pressure of a world class competition.

It's basically holding something very well isn't it?

I'm with mountain biking as it's basically just pedalling and any idiot can do that surely? This forums full of people who say they can lol.

Judo- look at the state of this guy :

[img] http://media.zenfs.com/en-GB/blogs/londonspy-uk/blasA.jp g" target="_blank">http://media.zenfs.com/en-GB/blogs/londonspy-uk/blasA.jp g"/> [/img]

warton - Member
I'm still going with shooting. It's basically holding something very well isn't it?

Careful now. Hadge is a bit confused and he has a gun, don't make him angry!

Think of all the salads he had to give up to make the weight....

Taekwondo, make sure you're nowhere near no.1 standing to have the best chance. 😉

Careful now. Hadge is a bit confused and he has a gun, don't make him angry!

It's my age I'm afraid and yes I have a gun but it's not like the ones I used to have hehehe. I know I should let stupid remarks go by but it's easy pick on a sport you know nothing about and I was just defending one I did and know the level required to compete at the very highest level and please understand, it's NOT just about holding something still.

10 - take it you've never lifted a bow then?? Incredibly competitive at club level in uk.

Yep, lifted a bow. I'm not in the U.K. either. I'll let you know how I get on. 😉

Holding stuff still and pointing it?

Like dressage which is telling your horse to do it properly all the time.

I'm still going with shooting. It's basically holding something very well isn't it?

Judging by how many people are really really dire shots I take issue with this. There's a lot of technique involved in shooting, it's not like COD where you point and shoot.

I can place 5 rounds through the same hole at 25M with an unscoped .22 rifle, I'd wager a bet you wouldn't be able to do the same even with a year of practice. Hell, I can often split paper targets in half - yes - by shooting at the thin bit.

I suspect any of the under funded sports - but you need to be well off for most of them. Fencing maybe? I used to fence at a reasonable level but am not precious about it like some others seem to be about their sports.

Any Womens event

[i]Horse prancing....

[/i]

Need a horse, that's capable of qualifying - so think +£100k min.

I'm still going with shooting. It's basically holding something very well isn't it?

There's a lot of technique involved in shooting

Technical holding and lever squeezing then?

Depends on your age and how much spare time you'll have for the next three years, but for the great majority of STWers (even the awesome ones), sorry, none of them.

could you just pick a country first, then pick a sport they don't compete in as yet? Say compete for a tiny south sea island, like the Cooke Islands, then take up fencing? If there's only one person competing for a place from that country.....?

GW - Member
Any Womens event

depends on how easily you reckon you can pass yourself off as a woman I suppose

So please tell me what's difficult about the mountain biking event then? Pedalling and steering? How hard can that be?

The more you reply Hadge, the more they'll keep saying how easy it is. 🙂 Rise above it, maaaaaan.

MTB:
Balance
Pedal
Steer
Brake
Jump
Drop
Manual
Skid
Cake

Shooting:
Stand
Point
Squint
Move index finger

Technical holding and lever squeezing then

Breath control, muscle relaxation, heartrate control, shot timing, emotional control (as hormonses have an affect on your nervous system) and natural ability.

MTB:
Balance
Pedal
Steer
Brake
Jump
Drop
Manual
Skid
Cake

Shooting:
Stand
Point
Squint
Move index finger

Your comparing apples to oranges. If you wanted a better comparison, compare track cycling to indoor shooting

If you want to compare shooting to mountain biking you should compare it to sniping (not many squaddies are good enough to ever think about making it as snipers just based on their shooting ability - without even hitting fieldcraft) or outdoor Bisley type events.

Some of the skills needed:

Emotional Control
Wind and Elevation judgement
Muscle group control
Muscle memory
Breath control
Heartrate control
Shot timing
Sharp Eyesight
You don't just pull the trigger either - you breathe in deep twice, exhale and after 5-10 seconds you take the shot. Timing. You then hold on target for a while before thinking about readying the next shot.

etc etc etc etc

Unlike MTB it's a very calm calculated sport - it gives me a different kick to adrenalin sports. It's more like meditation.

So it's like braking, but when you're already still.

Shurely something like handball: team game, requires a big squad, and most importantly is incredibly unpopular in this country. There'd be next to no chance of a medal though...

TBH, Choron's almost certainly reasoning right.
I guess the other approach would be to find the most exclusive sport, with the highest start up and training and equipment costs, and hope to be the best in the smallest group of possible participants.
So boats, bikes, horses?

Yep, handball, I reckon. Despite the Olympic "effect", I can't see it getting much more popular. Did anyone get to like it? I gave it a few tries at watching but tbh, I couldn't really get into it. Despite our shit weather, we seem to be better at outdoor sports rather than indoor "court" stuff. (I realise that's a bit of a generalisation if course)

Hadge. Awesome.

keep your knickers on ffs. OP was, which sport is easiest to get a place for.

how many fat 42 year olds (like me) did you see doing athletics? Or rowing, or cycling, etc

There was an 8 month pregnant women doing air rifle shooting. This tells me you do not need to be in peak physical form to compete, or get a place, in shooting. You need to be able to point and stuff though.

So, i do think my suggestion is valid. Sorry. Also, you know nothing of what i have competed in.

So what is your suggestion?

Need a horse, that's capable of qualifying - so think +£100k min

Air rifle.
Pretty cheap, so economically available to the majority of people (a decent gun starts at £600, each shot costs around 2 pence).
You just need a wind free 10 metre by 1 metre space to practice.
Not easy, but cheap to practice, and can be done at home if you have a long hallway.
It takes loads of practice to get right, but is possible, and there are few others in this Country who do it to an International standard.

After that, air pistol shooting (a little cheaper to buy the gun, and less space needed to practice).Harder I think than the rifle. Could be easier for others.

I dont think there are many others events that can be done at such a low cost, by virtually anyone - 20 stone bloaters could fire a rifle, though of course, if you are fit, you wont wobble about as much!

@loum, not sure 3 years would be enough time to get proficient enough at boaty or horsey stuff. But, as we know, there are some effing awesome cyclists here so maybe, just maybe. Hmmm, then again, in three years...nah. 🙂

There was an 8 month pregnant women doing air rifle shooting. This tells me you do not need to be in peak physical form to compete, or get a place, in shooting. You need to be able to point and stuff though.

TBH shooting is much more of psychological sport, your state of mind really messes with how you perform - much more than any other sport I have participated in. It does require an immense amount of training - but less so in the short indoor disciplines.

You do have to be able to hold the rifle or support yourself in the shooting position without getting very fine juddering due to muscle fatigue though. Being able to do that requires a fair bit of training.

Yeah but you can practise shooting on your night off at fairgrounds. Can't do that with mtb.

Why isn't Derren Brown in the team?

depends on how easily you reckon you can pass yourself off as a woman I suppose

Well it worked for <connection terminated>