This is why the Olympics suck

[sdifox]

Holy crap I hope I quoted this right. 17 steps to say I agree. I love watching the out of the ordinary (for us Americans) sports.

What I do not understand being a sport is equestrian sports. Sitting on a horse does not make you an athlete. Yeah I know shooting does not either, but I was so happy when that girl won bronze in skeet shooting the other day......

It's ok. Poor people would never grasp the majesty of dressage. :awe:

 

[Ns1]

It's ok. Poor people would never grasp the majesty of dressage. :awe:

this right here is a true gentleman.

 

[kranky]

A lot of sports are basically copies or modifications of other sports

Or tiny changes to the same sport.
I just think it's odd that some sports get many variations on the same theme, and others don't. 100m, 200m, 400m swimming. Why are those three different events? I think they have 5 different track & field race distances. Yet there's just 1 for the bicycling road race.

Even though people talk about Phelps' enormous medal count, a lot is certainly due to being in a sport where you can do the same thing in different events. I'm more impressed by Phelps' winning golds in 4 different Olympics like Carl Lewis and Al Oerter did.

 

[tynopik]

Even though people talk about Phelps' enormous medal count, a lot is certainly due to being in a sport where you can do the same thing in different events

if it provided that much of an advantage, then other swimmers should be doing what Phelps is doing

they aren't

total medal count
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_multiple_Olympic_medalists

25 Swimming
18 Gymnastics
15 Gymnastics
13 Biathlon
13 Gymnastics
13 Gymnastics
13 Fencing

 

[evident]

I just read about Race walking. I can't even believe it's an Olympic sport. wtf?!

 

[Mai72]

I just read about Race walking. I can't even believe it's an Olympic sport. wtf?!

Lol, I'm surprised they don't have an Olympic sport called "taking a dump.".

 

[smackababy]

They used to have tug of war! Now, there's a sport I can get behind.

 

[yuchai]

Or tiny changes to the same sport.
I just think it's odd that some sports get many variations on the same theme, and others don't. 100m, 200m, 400m swimming. Why are those three different events? I think they have 5 different track & field race distances. Yet there's just 1 for the bicycling road race.

Even though people talk about Phelps' enormous medal count, a lot is certainly due to being in a sport where you can do the same thing in different events. I'm more impressed by Phelps' winning golds in 4 different Olympics like Carl Lewis and Al Oerter did.

It sort of makes sense to have the different distances as I think the skills required are quite different. I guess you can debate whether some of the distances are too similar.

What truly just boosts the medal count (for individuals and countries) to me are the team/relay events for sports that are inherently individual based. They seem to be created just for boosting the medal count for large countries that have enough depth of talent to put together a good team.

 

[Paladin3]

My daughter, 16, and I had never seen handball before, but really enjoyed watching it. We've been going back and watching the previous games even.

Props to the OP. You've got to be living a pretty stellar life if you can get this outraged over disliking an obscure Olympic sport. Maybe you should concentrate on things you like in life more and just ignore the things you don't?

 

[zinfamous]

this right here is a true gentleman.

I just read an alarmingly boring New Yorker article about dressage. What a garbage thing to do, this....sport.

The horse in that video, Titalas, set some world record of 88%, sold the next year for $15 million to some ancient Hapbsburgian crone, then broke it's leg and never competed again.

 

[Matthiasa]

They likely paid that amount for the prospect of breeding future champions. Breeding is often worth far more than any actual competition they take part in.

 

[sdifox]

I just read an alarmingly boring New Yorker article about dressage. What a garbage thing to do, this....sport.

The horse in that video, Titalas, set some world record of 88%, sold the next year for $15 million to some ancient Hapbsburgian crone, then broke it's leg and never competed again.

Like I said, not for plebs. Privileged lives matter too.

 

[pcgeek11]

marked for later...

 

[John Connor]

What is the name of that other dumbass sport in the winter Olympics where they use a broom to move a teapot? Yeah, that ranks right up there with hand ball. LMAO!

 

[John Connor]

Curling in winter olympics is the best.

That's it! Curling! WTF?

 

[rh71]

Because it's shitty

That's exactly my point. Why is this a sport when all they've done differently vs real racing is require them to keep 1 foot on the ground at all times? I thought athletes are all about going all out and they're basically saying let's see who can do it fastest with one arm tied behind their back. So ridiculous. Who approved this bs?

Handball is ok.

 

[sdifox]

What is the name of that other dumbass sport in the winter Olympics where they use a broom to move a teapot? Yeah, that ranks right up there with hand ball. LMAO!

Curling? Them be granite stone. Not easy at all. The sweeping is to influence the stone's trajectory.

 

[sdifox]

That's exactly my point. Why is this a sport when all they've done differently vs real racing is require them to keep 1 foot on the ground at all times? I thought athletes are all about going all out and they're basically saying let's see who can do it fastest with one arm tied behind their back. So ridiculous. Who approved this bs?

Handball is ok.

speedwalking is very hard. I imagine all them speed walkers will develop some serious hip problem later in life.

 

[PottedMeat]

this is why the olympics suck in the us

 

[zinfamous]

They likely paid that amount for the prospect of breeding future champions. Breeding is often worth far more than any actual competition they take part in.

true. either way, still a hefty price to pay for an animal that is, eventually, some Frenchman's fancy dinner.

 

[SearchMaster]

Man I love the Olympics these days. I will admit I got to the point I didn't give a crap for many years but I'm back into it. I like watching the little known sports, including handball. I like watching the women's sports and even though having some hotties participating doesn't hurt at all, I'll watch them even if no such hotties are involved.

And to whoever was saying Phelps' accomplishments are diminished because it's just doing the same thing in different events....there is *some* truth to that but a lot of untruth as well. First of all, Phelps has mastered two different strokes, which are quite different. It would be like saying "well Usain Bolt is the fastest human ever, why doesn't he do the 110m hurdles?" It's because they're different skill sets. And Phelps has mastered multiple distances. "Why doesn't Bolt run the 400m or 1500m events?" Oh yeah, his coach said he's never run a mile IN HIS LIFE, because the training for the shorter distances is different from the training for the longer distances.

The swimming has been quite interesting, with Phelps continuing to come alive every four years and Katie Ledecky absolutely dominating her events (and putting the smack down on her Commie rival). My sister was within a few places of making the Olympic swim team many years ago, it would have been an unbelievable experience if she had.

 

[zinfamous]

The swimming has been quite interesting, with Phelps continuing to come alive every four years and Katie Ledecky absolutely dominating her events (and putting the smack down on her Commie rival). My sister was within a few places of making the Olympic swim team many years ago, it would have been an unbelievable experience if she had.

that wasn't Ledecky--that was King or whatever her name is. So far my favorite moment of these Olympics--it was super awesome. Though I do wish that commie juicer didn't medal in that race--like that SA chump that has been taunting Phelps up until he got destroyed in the 200m

Ledecky's primary rival is that Sjostrom hottie from Sweden who is, by all accounts, a pretty cool person.

 

[MaxDepth]

SILENCE! Field hockey has women, sticks and violence. Is this not what you asked for for Christmas?

Field Hockey is even worse.

 

[yuchai]

That's exactly my point. Why is this a sport when all they've done differently vs real racing is require them to keep 1 foot on the ground at all times? I thought athletes are all about going all out and they're basically saying let's see who can do it fastest with one arm tied behind their back. So ridiculous. Who approved this bs?

Handball is ok.

That was my initial perception too, but a couple of things. The world record is like 3.5 hours for 50km, which works out to less than an average 7 minute/mile. That's a pretty impressive speed for walking.

This also doesn't seem all that different from having 4 styles for swimming, when we know freestyle is the fastest. You could argue that swimming breaststroke is like having "one arm tied behind their back" as well.

 

[dainthomas]

Curling? Them be granite stone. Not easy at all. The sweeping is to influence the stone's trajectory.

It's basically a Canadian drinking game. I can't believe someone got conned into adding it to the Olympics.