[Closed] Have we done that: sports that shouldn't be in the Olympics?

All of them, none of them are really amateur any more!

Pretty much all the track and field athletes earn their livings through their sport.

We'd be left with Archery and Speed Walking if we had an 'amateurs only' rule.

Any sport where an Olympic gold is not considered the greatest achievement possible.

Anything that involves Horses.

Higher, farther, faster. Anything that requires "style" points is not a sport and so should not be at the Olympics.

Synchronised swimming.

I reckon Tug o War should replace it.

Athletics, all of them!

Clearly any sport where the decision on who 'wins' relies on the arbitrary awarding of points by a panel of judges, rather than an actual measurable comparison between competitors (furthest/fastest/highest)

We'd be left with Archery and Speed Walking if we had an 'amateurs only' rule.

They'd walk a damn sight faster if the archers were allowed to target them
You could set the walkers off mincing and give them 20 or 30 seconds head start

In my book anything that involves a panel of judges awarding points for how well something is executed shouldn't be an Olympic sport, far too subjective for me. So that's show jumping, synchronised swimming and diving (imagine if diving was just, who could get from the diving board into the water the quickest!).

road racing

If you take the road race out you'll need to lose the mountain biking too.

and the track cycling.

Anything that requires "style" points is not a sport and so should not be at the Olympics.

+1

Then anything where equipment technology is a factor and expensive gear rules out level competition from many countries. Cycling, yachting, all the winter games, anything with horses. Get back to track and field, boxing, etc.

show jumping doesn't get style points, it's who knocks down the least fences in the fastest time.

Horsey dancing is a different matter.

Higher, farther, faster. Anything that requires "style" points is not a sport and so should not be at the Olympics.

This. And things like "speed walking" seem to be a bit weird. if you want to go somewhere fast, run.

BruceWee - Member

Any sport where an Olympic gold is not considered the greatest achievement possible.

fair point that.

If you take the road race out you'll need to lose the mountain biking too

I'll be first to say synchronised swimming, as despite the effort and training which undoudtedly has to be put in, it is no different to say ballroom dancing IMO.

I think tennis, football, basketball too as they have been 'pro' too long and have their own more important events for the Olympics to be of any real value. IMO they are not really 'in the spirit' of The Games......if that still has any relevance in the highly commercial jamoboree it has been for a very long time!

EDIT - what Zulu said re style points is spot on but removing any assessment by judges would cause a problem with diving and gymnastics!

Replace all with Whinging, Moaning, Crying Foul play (cause the other guy was actually better), Forum Trolling and Strava racing (save a lot of time and money on stadiums and air fairs.

Also Selling sole to the highest bidder (sort of fishy game)

Is boxing the only sport in the Olympics that pros aren't allowed to compete in? I wonder why they're not. It's weird.

They'd walk a damn sight faster if the archers were allowed to target them
You could set the walkers off mincing and give them 20 or 30 seconds head start

Please clean the tea of my keyboard 🙂

Then anything where equipment technology is a factor and expensive gear rules out level competition from many countries. Cycling, yachting, all the winter games, anything with horses.

You could still have those, just make the competitors use supplied kit

I wonder why they're not. It's weird.

ou could still have those, just make the competitors use supplied kit

Well for sure you won't have pro any more 😉

Clearly any sport where the decision on who 'wins' relies on the arbitrary awarding of points by a panel of judges, rather than an actual measurable comparison between competitors (furthest/fastest/highest)

Agreed.

"Don't agree, as the biggest achievement in road cycling is winning the tour de France. "

would never have guessed you were french.

Is boxing the only sport in the Olympics that pros aren't allowed to compete in? I wonder why they're not. It's weird.

Probably because all the people that control the sport are pretty much gangsters [probably 🙂 ]

BMX and mountain biking.

theotherjonv - yes, that's what I meant, horsey dancing!

would never have guessed you were french

LOL but it is true :D, biggest cyclist event (after the BBB) look at the number of thread said compare to the giro or la vuelta

Golf and football.

Going to go against everyone else and say that I do think that sports where points are awarded should be in the games.

Amateur boxing is a good Olympic sport yet the points allocation is just as subjective as Gymnastics, diving, etc.

Clearly any sport where the decision on who 'wins' relies on the arbitrary awarding of points by a panel of judges

Baseball, Tennis, football from current Olympics.

Rugby 7s, Golf from the 2016 in Rio.

sailing

Anything that involves Horses

This.

And football. Tennis. Road cycling. Mountain biking.

Higher, farther, faster. Anything that requires "style" points is not a sport and so should not be at the Olympics.

Agreed.

And anything that's decided by a panel of judges - synchronised swimming, diving, figure skating ... a proper Olympic sport should be measurable by something definitive like time, distance, height, weight etc.

[i]Well I am not sure pro boxing is about boxing anymore...[/i]

Most of it still is (to the actual boxers anyway).. but what's to stop a pro-boxer fighting in the Olympics to amateur rules? I'm pretty sure they're not allowed.

Nare dezb, they are just too crap. One boxing match every now and again, vs a whole day of constant fighting...

Sweeping generalisation there Juan! You're thinking of the Kitschkos 😉

I think the olympics lost its amateur ethos a while ago. If we removed all the sport where the competitor are completly amateur thay would be anything left.

I agree that any sport where Olympic Gold isn't the highest honour should be ditched.

So football and tennis straight away, probably baseball and basketball too. Golf isn't an olympic sport yet but its going to be introduced, this is just daft!

Road Cycling - hmm not sure. You can't really compare winning a grand tour to winning a single race. The nearest equivalent is the world champ road race. Ask Spartacus he has won both, ask Cav if he would swap his rainbow stripes for an olympic gold.

As for points scoring I can see the er... point but who can deny that gymanstics is a great olympic discipline with a strong history

Singletrack have the right idea with their weekender. Keep all the usual sports in, but make it so each country can only enter 4 athletes, 2 men, 2 women who must enter every sport. Sir Chris Hoy, you are an epic cyclist, but I challenge you to excel in rhythmic ballet!

Golf isn't an olympic sport yet but its going to be introduced, this is just daft!

Totally agree-the only way to make golf a viable Olympic sport is to ensure the field is made up of amateurs which would mean an Olympic medal would be up there with the highest amateur honours.

Olympic TKD. Club tkd I've seen looks right but the Olympic version looks like Skippy v Another Skippy at best. Just weird.

Generally I'd make it an amateurs only event. Don't see how pro golf, tennis, footy, runners etc truly represent the Olympic ideal.

Thinking about the issue of sports where points are awarded perhaps the problem with synchronised swimming is that to the average observer it looks like the points are awarded purely for aesthetic reasons rather than technical reasons. So a gymnast or diver gets points for technical execution and this can be made less subjectives, you just need to codify what that is.

+1 for binning sports which need judges and interpretation.

Get rid of the amateur rules for sports like football and have whoever you want in the team.

Reduce the field by setting harder qualifying criteria so those people with absolutely no chance of winning can't enter.

Get rid of most of the swimming events.

Olympic TKD. Club tkd I've seen looks right but the Olympic version looks like Skippy v Another Skippy at best. Just weird.

Do you mean the difference between WTF (Olympic) and ITF (not Olympic)? IMO ITF is vastly superior.

First of all, there's no reason why Olympians should be amateurs - the original ancient Greek athletes weren't.

Get rid of most of the running. All those distances, 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, 1600m, 5km, 10km, Marathon... Good grief. Swimming is the same, but with different strokes too - there must be more medals on offer than competitors.

Never understood why there's Judo and wrestling, should just be wrestling - learn it in a judo school if you like.

Taekwondo? Do me a lemon, it was embarrassing.

BMX racing actually seems a good fit, equipment is pretty simple and it combines explosive sprinting with guts, aggression, and technique.

And bring back pankration.

I despair at the hype of the Olympics, a collection of the most random sports as dictated by a panel of blazer wearing duffers who are on a par with FIFA re corruption. Get it back to athletics and swimming, nothing else.

How the current position has evolved is a complete mystery to me.

An example – Windsurfing, for years they insisted on a one design format (identical kit like in the sailing) which is fine but the equipment specified was light years out of date, imagine if the mountain biking insisted on a set bike with 14 gears fully rigid heavy steel frame with 1.8 tyres and v brakes!

They very slowly started to bring it up to date but it was and remains completely removed from what competitive windsurfing is all about. And the last I heard it was going to get binned to be replaced by kite surfing. Madness the whole episode!

Get it back to athletics and swimming, nothing else.

Why?

Is that where the modern Olympics started...?

Take out anything an acient Greek didn't do.

Keirin - A cycle 'event' that involves a motorbike ffs!.

The british aren't winging about it because we might win it.

Keirin was admitted into the Olympics in December 1996.[1] A BBC News investigation, reported in July 2008, found evidence that following the sport's admission into the Olympics, the Union Cycliste Internationale required (in writing) that the Japan Keirin Association support UCI projects in "material terms"; over a period of time the association subsequently gave three million dollars to UCI in consideration of "the excellent relationship the UCI has with representatives of the Olympic movement." Four members of the governing body were subsequently arrested in Tokyo.[1]

Bruce Wee - possibly, the Club one involves being able to punch - shock horror - my kids did that and we laughed out loud at the olympic version involving kicking only. Whoever thought that was a good idea? Someone with short arms perhaps?...

Thank you OP ... STW at its best...

"Get rid of most of the swimming events. "

"Get rid of most of the running. All those distances, 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, 1600m, 5km, 10km, Marathon"

lol

Its very rare to win more than 2 individual events on the athletics track so I think they have the balance about right there but when one swimmer can win 5 individual events it just shows they are too similar.

It has to be beach volleyball doesn't it? It is just volleyball in bikinis.

First pass, is the Olympics the pinnacle of the sport? If no them remove it.
Second pass, is the sport in anyway judged and/or open to interpretation? If yes,remove it.

Easy.

Get rid of most of the running. All those distances, 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, 1600m, 5km, 10km, Marathon

Just have one race over the marathon distance but take the times at 100m, 200m, 400m etc - then award medals for those distances but only to those who complete the whole marathon.

Second pass, is the sport in anyway judged and/or open to interpretation? If yes,remove it.

So, boxing will be out as well as various track and field events such as shot put?

Bring back some of the sports they used to have, like the 100m Freestyle for Sailors, or the 12 hour cycle race. 100Km cycle track race sounds fun as well.

R05ey - I'll agree to leaving swimming events in if you agree to the introduction of their running equivalents, namely skipping, running backwards and hopping. All to running what breast stroke, back stroke and butterfly are to front crawl - namely, a shitter version of the same thing.

I reckon Tug o War should replace it.

Golf isn't an olympic sport yet but its going to be introduced, this is just daft!

Tug of war was in the 1900 games and golf was in the 1904 games.

Anything where it's one-on-one (teams or individuals) with a quarter final - semi final - gold medal final /bronze medal final structure because it's fundamentally unfair - the winners of the silver and bronze medals play exactly the same number of games / matches and both lose one of them, so the allocation of silver to one and bronze to another is effectively arbitrary.

The sports could stay, but they should do it as a league where everyone plays everyone else.

Get rid of anything the Greeks didn't do

By all accounts that wasn't very much. Randy bunch the ancient Greeks.

Any sport where an Olympic gold is not considered the greatest achievement possible.

This. Simples.

Get it back to athletics and swimming, nothing else.

and town planning

and dramatic works

and chamber music

Any sport where an Olympic gold is not considered the greatest achievement possible.

How then would one introduce new events?

Any sport where an Olympic gold is not considered the greatest achievement possible.

So, for example; if anyone beat the 100m record while not at the olympics, the 100m would be removed from the olympics - until the existing record was once again surpassed at the olympics.

It'd certainly whittle down the number of events over time.

Snowboarding.
Makes a mockery of doping controls.

I'd rather have stoned snowboarders than Olympic snowboarders.

So, for example; if anyone beat the 100m record while not at the olympics, the 100m would be removed from the olympics - until the existing record was once again surpassed at the olympics.

Any chance of saying that in a way that makes sense?

Well, the last line (unquoted) certainly clarifies it

Agree with anything that needs to be judged and any that Olympics is not highest pinnacle. That's also remove tennis.

Why sailing out? The one design boats used are cheaper than a high end bike to buy... They alsO have a huge amature following in a first past the post style do seems to fit?

Bring back gliding as well. Now there's the ultimate non spectator sport!!

Agree with anything that needs to be judged and any that Olympics is not highest pinnacle. That's also remove tennis.

No Boxing??

Only if they fight till one surrenders or is knocked out. Gypsy rules!

Why sailing out?

Agree... perceived an expensive sport yet cheaper than a decent mtb.

So, for example; if anyone beat the 100m record while not at the olympics, the 100m would be removed from the olympics - until the existing record was once again surpassed at the olympics.

That's just stupid.

Take football, the World Cup is the pinnacle, not the Olympics, so it shouldn't be included.

Tennis: any of the Grand Slams are held in higher regard.

Whilst not really following either sport I couldn't tell you the current or any previous Olympic champion. I can tell you the football World Cup holders and name a number of the tennis greats.

Boxing? Bit of a different sport frankly isn't it, so not sure about that.

Cycling? Track yes, MTB... maybe, road... probably not, grand; tour/World Champs victories arguably more prestigious, BMX... dunno.

Athletics? Yes

Swimming? Yes

Etc.

Et merde, now I am even agreeing with njee... What have I done

Why sailing out?

elzorillo - Member

Agree... perceived an expensive sport yet cheaper than a decent mtb.

+1

I bought a Laser at 15 for £550, sold it 3 years later for £450 having done no more than replace the tiller extension, mainsheet, toestrap and done a fair bit of filling/sanding to get it smooth underneath. Club fee's varied from £20 (coastal, round the lobsterpots style race series) to £100 (inland on a reservoir that had to rented).

Ok at the top end boats can be expensive, but day to day I broke or wore out very little, if I was trying to be competitive then it might have cost me £400 for a new sail after 3 years, but I was getting fair results with a 4 season old one so dividing that over 5 years it's still cheaper than suspension servicing.

Even yacht raceing is cheep if you make it, buy something like a GEM (if you want fast and scary), can be bought for around/under £5k, takes a crew of 3 so split that between some m8's and it's a fraction of the cost of a half decent MTB.

Still Olympics isn't the pinnacle of sailing, America's cup is