What sports should the Olympics ge rid of?

[Rolltide]

Wakeboarding would be a great idea, Dale_M, along with waterskiing. Waterskiing was a sport for a while in the 1950s, I believe. I could see it picking up some decent ratings. I think surfing was also strongly considered as an Olympic sport. That would be a great addition, but the unique problem there is that there are very few nations that could host a surfing event. You’d eliminate land locked nations, as well as those that are too far north, like England.

My wife teaches baton twirling, so for purely selfish reasons, I’d like to see that added, although I doubt many people would be very excited about it because most people associate it with the 1950s marching band cliche. Modern twirling is a bit like cheerleading, where although you still see it in high schools, it has also transformed into a competitive sport. If it came in, it would probably be added as a subset of rhythmic gymnastics, although it already has its own separate international body. Competitive twirling has a pretty formal rule structure, and combines the choreography and dance elements of rhythmic gymnastics with the technical skill and ability of the martial arts. Honestly though, they’re not actively participating for inclusion at this time. They’re trying to build an international base so that there would be enough nations doing it to actually put together a broad competition. Right now, the US, Canada, France, England, The Netherlands, Australia, and Japan are the only nations that compete at the highest level. You need at least sixteen to be realistically viable. Further, they have their own international championship already.

This would be the level of difficulty you could expect in an competitive baton competition. That’s at least as good as rhythmic gymnastics, don’t you think?
youtube.com/watch?v=Hi0cQ5ELdt4

 

[MarcoPolo]

I can’t believe no one said basketball. Get rid of the basketball. Almost none of them are amateurs anymore.

 

[Do_Good_Then_Go]

Rhythmic gymnastics puzzles me. The ribbon isn’t so bad, but the clubs and the ball leave me scratching my head and wondering what on earth I’m watching. I can see and appreciate that great skill is needed but I can’t imagine who would even think up an activity like that.

Then again, I wouldn’t mind if ballroom dancing was in the Olympics so I suppose it’s a good thing I’m not in charge of these things!

 

[Rolltide]

Rhythmic gymnastics puzzles me. The ribbon isn’t so bad, but the clubs and the ball leave me scratching my head and wondering what on earth I’m watching. I can see and appreciate that great skill is needed but I can’t imagine who would even think up an activity like that.

Then again, I wouldn’t mind if ballroom dancing was in the Olympics so I suppose it’s a good thing I’m not in charge of these things!

The rhythmic gymnastics apparatuses are ribbon, ball, clubs, hoop, and rope, although rope is being phased out. It has been popular in Russia and Eastern Europe for almost 100 years, so it’s a surprisingly old sport. The idea is to have all of the elements of regular gymnastics with the added difficulty of manipulating the different equipment (each emphasizing a different type of movement or motion) at the same time. Their purpose is to make the sport less forgiving, as mistakes that could be covered in artistic gymnastics will become obvious due to the added dexterity required. An artistic gymnast can make a mistake, and it will not be obvious to the crowd. If a rhythmic gymnastic makes a mistake, they will likely drop or fumble the equipment, making it obvious to all.

There has actually been a lot of talk about adding ballroom dancing as a sport, especially since ice dancing is already a sport in the Winter Olympics.

 

[Rolltide]

I can’t believe no one said basketball. Get rid of the basketball. Almost none of them are amateurs anymore.

A discussion is underway right now about making basketball a “under 23” tournament once again, and putting it back in the hands of the amateurs. Interestingly, this is being spearheaded by the NBA, which is tired of the IOC getting free revenue from the use of its players, and the added contractual problems that it causes.

 

[Do_Good_Then_Go]

The rhythmic gymnastics apparatuses are ribbon, ball, clubs, hoop, and rope, although rope is being phased out. It has been popular in Russia and Eastern Europe for almost 100 years, so it’s a surprisingly old sport. The idea is to have all of the elements of regular gymnastics with the added difficulty of manipulating the different equipment (each emphasizing a different type of movement or motion) at the same time. Their purpose is to make the sport less forgiving, as mistakes that could be covered in artistic gymnastics will become obvious due to the added dexterity required. An artistic gymnast can make a mistake, and it will not be obvious to the crowd. If a rhythmic gymnastic makes a mistake, they will likely drop or fumble the equipment, making it obvious to all.

There has actually been a lot of talk about adding ballroom dancing as a sport, especially since ice dancing is already a sport in the Winter Olympics.

Thanks Rolltide, appreciate the background and I had no idea rhythmic gymnastics had around for that long, for some reason I assumed it was something new.

I love the ice dancing.

 

[livnlern]

Thy’re adding Golf? Ugh…now that’s a boring sport for TV. The guy hits the ball and you watch sky until the ball lands then you watch it roll for 10 minutes. Robin Williams was right, drunk Scotsmen invented that game as a joke on all of us.

I actually enjoyed watching dressage a lot more than synchronized swimming and rhythmic gymnastics.

I’d like to see women’s softball come back, and I’d love it if they added baseball!

Agreed on golf…it’s like watching paint dry.
I really liked the rhythmic gymnastics. It was very lovely to watch and the women are so graceful. Like watching a ballet. And synchronized swimming is fun to watch. I keep counting the seconds til they come up for air!
I could do without the wrestling…it’s just a sweatty, grabby sport. And table tennis is something to play out in the garage, not a sport of real athletes.

 

[Bill_Martin]

Rhythmic gymnastics: essentially just dancing

Synchronized swimming: see above

Speed walking: seriously?

Curling: ridiculously boring and un-athletic

 

[ConstantineTG]

Trampoline

NO!!!

That is the only gold Canada have

 

[ConstantineTG]

I can’t believe no one said basketball. Get rid of the basketball. Almost none of them are amateurs anymore.

So? Olympics are about the best of the best, and the best happen to be pros. In Europe, they are pros even before they are 18.

Besides, Tennis also have pro athletes.

Curling: ridiculously boring and un-athletic

You don’t call scrubbing the ice really hard athletic?

 

[triumphguy]

We should cut out about half the swimming competitions: I mean 4 by 100, 4 by 400 etc etc., in freestyle, breast-stroke, back stroke IM, butterfly etc etc etc - boring!!!

You Yanks wouldn’t like that though, your medal count would be a lot lower!

Also for swimming - like the cycling - there should be only one representative per nation in the final. That would even things up.

 

[plainandsimple]

Another reason why baseball isn’t an Olympic sport might have to deal with the Summer Olympics being in the middle of the MLB season.

Also, with regards to table tennis, people need to realize the extremely high level at which it is being played and the amount of skill that it takes to play at that level. It is not comparable to playing casually in your basement.

 

[MarcoPolo]

Rhythmic gymnastics puzzles me. The ribbon isn’t so bad, but the clubs and the ball leave me scratching my head and wondering what on earth I’m watching.

I gotta say, this one girl I saw doing a ball routine was on par with the Chinese Acrobats you see in local live theaters, or maybe even something in Vegas. She was unreal. A real dexterity, plus grace to boot. I don’t know if it’s a “sport” either, but it was amazing to watch.

 

[MarcoPolo]

Besides, Tennis also have pro athletes.

Somebody already said tennis. In a big font even.

 

[pgnat1]

Field Hockey

Add: Dodgeball

 

[didymus]

We should cut out about half the swimming competitions: I mean 4 by 100, 4 by 400 etc etc., in freestyle, breast-stroke, back stroke IM, butterfly etc etc etc - boring!!!

You Yanks wouldn’t like that though, your medal count would be a lot lower!

Also for swimming - like the cycling - there should be only one representative per nation in the final. That would even things up.

I actually saw an article claiming that the reason for all the swimming/ track events is to guarantee a high medal count for the US & thus better ratings.
I don’t usually go in for conspiracy theories but this one seems to make economic sense. The Olympics are a loser for the network anyway – or shifted to events like curling [yawn] and [zzzzzzz] the ratings go off a cliff. .

 

[triumphguy]

I actually saw an article claiming that the reason for all the swimming/ track events is to guarantee a high medal count for the US & thus better ratings.
I don’t usually go in for conspiracy theories but this one seems to make economic sense. The Olympics are a loser for the network anyway – or shifted to events like curling [yawn] and [zzzzzzz] the ratings go off a cliff. .

I was really just stirring the pot, but I heard from a number of British networks that the International body ruling biking deliberately cut a number of biking events and limited the number of competitors to ensure that that the British did not dominate. They were scared of GB owning the podium across the board.

Imagine telling the US swim team that there could only be one competitor per event, or the Jamaican sprint team there could only be one competitor per event.

BTW curling rocks!

youtube.com/watch?v=JU_6M9mek74&feature=relmfu

One of the best shots: youtube.com/watch?v=CM5mFH3_Qhs&feature=related

 

[curlycool89]

lol

You guys forgot to give croquet serious consideration.

Well, they are considering adding golf, which is essentially the modern day equivalent.

Golf is being added for Rio, and it’s a crime that baseball and softball aren’t still in the Olympics. That said, the most important requirement for an Olympic sport is that there are enough nations that can compete in it at the international level to make it a fair competition. That number of nations is usually around sixteen. Unfortunately, neither baseball or softball have more than that number with a chance of winning.

As I said in the other thread, while baseball in insanely popular in the US it’s virtually unknown everywhere else (except for Japan and Cuba), which is why it was dropped from the olympics.

A discussion is underway right now about making basketball a “under 23” tournament once again, and putting it back in the hands of the amateurs. Interestingly, this is being spearheaded by the NBA, which is tired of the IOC getting free revenue from the use of its players, and the added contractual problems that it causes.

I guess basketball at the olympics will die off similarly to men’s soccer then. They did an “under 23” competition for men’s soccer this year in London, and almost nobody cared because the international superstars were all absent (I bet more people watched Manchester United play Barcelona in a pre-season friendly). Maybe FIFA just wants people to pay more attention to the World Cup instead.

Rhythmic gymnastics: essentially just dancing

Synchronized swimming: see above

I have to count sychronized swimming as a sport ever since a friend explained to me that sometimes people pass out (due to lack of oxygen) and are put on the side until they wake up and immediately jump back in (maybe we should transfer it to the X-Games?).

NO!!!

That is the only gold Canada have

In light of Canada’s gold in trampoline, I’ve had to re-classify it as “as close to a non-sport as you can be while still being a sport” (seriously, we sucked this time).

Field Hockey

Add: Dodgeball

Field hockey is actually a massively popular sport, just not in North America (#3 most popular in the world by some counts).

BTW curling rocks!

youtube.com/watch?v=JU_6M9mek74&feature=relmfu

One of the best shots: youtube.com/watch?v=CM5mFH3_Qhs&feature=related

And still a million times better to watch then golf (golf is not a sport, but people pretend it is)…

 

[WhatMeWorry]

lol

You guys forgot to give croquet serious consideration.

And play by Poison rules.

 

[Cat]

Why get rid of any of them?

The Olympics isn’t a television series, produced for the purpose of allowing companies to hawk their products during the two weeks of TV coverage.

It’s an athletic competition, and each sport has its athletes, coaches, and fans.

As long as the host city can accomodate the athletes and their entourage, along with the fans, there isn’t an issue. (Accomodation means providing the competition venues along with the housing/meals/etc.)

Also, as long as each sport’s federation can continue to manage the sport, establish standards and rules, present regular competitions, raise funds, promote the sport and gain new recruits and fans, etc., then why eliminate a sport?

Computer technology makes it even easier to schedule the events and venues. I’m in charge of a music competition in my city (very small compared to the Olympics–I schedule around 120 students in multiple music events), and I love doing the scheduling and making sure that there is adequate practice time, warmup time, etc.

IF the Summer Olympics were pared down, the only option, IMO, is to take it back to the original Olympic sports: Boxing, Wrestling, Pankration (combo boxing/wrestling), Equestrian events (riding and chariot racing), Pentathalon (boxing, discus, javelin, running, jumping), and Running. I believe there was some kind of grueling race called a “stade,” too.

A lot of the events in the Olympics have ancient orginas.

But there really isn’t any reason to pare it down, other than cost to the Host City.

That being said, I am a supporter of a movement to end “host cities” and instead, establish a permanent Olympic site in Athens, Greece. All participating countries would chip in for the building and maintainance of the competition venues and accomodations for the Olympics in Athens, and all the countries would provide volunteers (I would volunteer from the U.S.!).

I think this would be awesome, since Athens was the ancient site of the Olympics.

BTW, the federation that manages trampoline spent DECADES working to get trampoline into the Olympics. Why take it away from them?

As for Winter Olympics, that’s a sore point with me. The sport of synchronized skating has been around for almost 60 years, but the various figure skating federations seem oblivious to athlete, coach, and fan demand for Olympic status. The IOC continues to insist that synchronized skating is not a sport. Ridiculous. IIf synchro swimming is a sport, so is synchro skating. And there are plenty of countries with teams, and there are plenty of fans; generally speaking, world synchro competitions sell out. I don’t get it. I think that there is a lot of politics involved in the admittance of new sports to Olympics. I just wish that some of those politicians would take up the cause of synchronized skating.