should DH be in the olympics?

mitchymitch

hey i have been set this as homework in english so was just wnderin what you guys thought please comment it would be very helpfull

supersonic

Yes. If we can have a myriad of confusing and rather pointless track events, and BMX, I am sure that there is a place for DH.

mitchymitch

supersonic wrote:

Yes. If we can have a myriad of confusing and rather pointless track events, and BMX, I am sure that there is a place for DH.

hahaha thanks for that 8)

El Capitano

I've voted no. For it to be made an Olympic sport another cycling event would have to be dropped.

delcol

yes,,, we mght actually win another gold medal, in the olympics,, gee or peaty.. and you know rach will take the gold, but definatly not on a road bike :P

supersonic

Should have big white vans to jump over!

bluechair84

It would make a great 'coverage' sport, because it is set on a planned, short and predictable circuit. The TV and photography crews can set up heart stopping shots to please the crowd. It's much easier to cover something like DH than XC because of the circuit length. On top of that, people are always most impressed by beauty and fear - the XC event has neither. And it's why I don't watch the long jump! No one ever died in the long jump... or looked sexy.

Having said that, how much of the win is down to the bike, and how much the rider? I think certain events like the Olympics should represent the pinnacle of human endurance; how far you can jump and how fast you can run says something about how we as a species are progressing and I wouldn't like to think that human progress is becoming intimately entwined with engineering and electronics... which is why I'm not so keen on electrics coming to the biking world! It's not going to be a good mile-marker because no two events will ever be comparable; "so what that this year one DHer was 3 secs faster - how can it be said to be a new world record on an ever changing circuit with no common denominator?"

I guess it depends on what purpose you think something like the Olympics serves? Entertainment? A measure of man? A yard stick of progress?

Rant over...

for now...

muddybaker

downhill at hadleigh park! er no. Blink and you would miss it!

bluechair84

delcol wrote:

yes,,, we mght actually win another gold medal, in the olympics,, gee or peaty.. and you know rach will take the gold, but definatly not on a road bike :P

Hopefully his recent win will have him fired up for more now the glass ceiling has been broken!

Buckled_Rims

Yes, I should be an Olympic sport. But remember Holland isn't a natural downhill country so they may vote "NO"

BlackSpur

El Capitano wrote:

I've voted no. For it to be made an Olympic sport another cycling event would have to be dropped.

Why?

The Northern Monkey

Yes. But they'll have to accept the heavy drinking, partying and general fecking about that isn't usually associated with Olympic sports

Hercule Q

dh would be good in the olympics and if they have to drop another event there is that indoor lycra fixie riding business that does nothing for our sport except promote bran flakes

MacAndCheese

I think it should be and they should make way for it by removing all horse sports events particually the dressage.
The main reason for this is because I believe the olympics is about a human achieving a peak physical and mental condition to be the best as their chosen event - I think horse riding it is far to much down to the condition and mental preperation of the horse...and dressage is making a horse dance for God's sake.

I also think downhill combines everything that a good olympic sport should,you have to be very phsically fit and mentally focused, there's a high level of technical skill , you have to have very quick reactions and it also requires a lot of bravery and toughness to compete at top levels. Surely these are all attributes the ancient Greeks would have been looking for when they created the games? - not making a god damn horse dance!

Sarnian

What MacAndcheese says spot on

mitchymitch

guys thankyou so much for these post they are so helpfull because my speach has to be blady 700 words :evil:
thanks again and keep em comin

supersonic

bigbenj_08 wrote:

Yes. But they'll have to accept the heavy drinking, partying and general fecking about that isn't usually associated with Olympic sports

That is why darts never made it...

captainfly

Of course it should, as the olympic mtto"Citius, Altius, Fortius." These three Latin words mean "Swifter, Higher, Stronger." well DH is certainly swift you have to be strong and the starting point is usually quite high up I'm pretty sure the riders have no problem with being high either
As for the use of a 'machine' what about shooting and archery?

Of course there is good chance of GB getting medals too.

singlespeedexplosif

dull, dull, dull. no chance.

.blitz

MacAndCheese wrote:

...they should make way for it by removing all horse sports events particually the dressage.

Plus freakin' one.

mrfmilo

MacAndCheese wrote:

I think it should be and they should make way for it by removing all horse sports events particually the dressage.
The main reason for this is because I believe the olympics is about a human achieving a peak physical and mental condition to be the best as their chosen event - I think horse riding it is far to much down to the condition and mental preperation of the horse...and dressage is making a horse dance for God's sake.

I also think downhill combines everything that a good olympic sport should,you have to be very phsically fit and mentally focused, there's a high level of technical skill , you have to have very quick reactions and it also requires a lot of bravery and toughness to compete at top levels. Surely these are all attributes the ancient Greeks would have been looking for when they created the games? - not making a god damn horse dance!

Agree

cee

if you want mountain biking in the olympics, i think you have to submit to the fact that 4X has the best chance.

It looks much better on tv then DH does.

Rather than 5 set up shot locations, you get to see the whole race from start to finish. There is overtaking, big jumps, scary looking features and crashing!

It has to appeal to people who are not into bikes, and DH is boring to non-fans.

mrfmilo

cee wrote:

if you want mountain biking in the olympics, i think you have to submit to the fact that 4X has the best chance.

It looks much better on tv then DH does.

Rather than 5 set up shot locations, you get to see the whole race from start to finish. There is overtaking, big jumps, scary looking features and crashing!

It has to appeal to people who are not into bikes, and DH is boring to non-fans.

I think people would get bored of 4x faster than DH. At the end of the day, it's 4 guys doing the same thing over and over, one faster than another.
For non-biker, watching men (and women) in full body armour flying down a cours at 30 mph is more gripping.

I think DH would also get more kids/teens into biking than 4x

joshtp

mrfmilo wrote:

cee wrote:

if you want mountain biking in the olympics, i think you have to submit to the fact that 4X has the best chance.

It looks much better on tv then DH does.

Rather than 5 set up shot locations, you get to see the whole race from start to finish. There is overtaking, big jumps, scary looking features and crashing!

It has to appeal to people who are not into bikes, and DH is boring to non-fans.

I think people would get bored of 4x faster than DH. At the end of the day, it's 4 guys doing the same thing over and over, one faster than another.
For non-biker, watching men (and women) in full body armour flying down a cours at 30 mph is more gripping.

I think DH would also get more kids/teens into biking than 4x

definately, my dad (non rider) always watches the DH world cup with me, but gets bored of the 4X as he says (and its true) the one that comes out of the first corner first wins, it rare that there is any major happenings after the first turn. Dh on the other hand is action from the word GO!
it should be a Olymmpic sport, even if it replaced XC it would be good, and the argument that bike makes a big difference as well as rider, well, in what world is this not the case in xc too! connondales, meridas,speshes, these are all dif bikes that give dif benefits, so why cant the benefits given by santa cruz's, commencals, speshes, be there as well! i say we start a petition to have it in the olymipics! if 50000+ signed it, well.........

cee

mrfmilo
& joshtp/mbukman

sure thats your opinion.....but articles in the mags over the last couple of months have discussed this in detail and they conclude the opposite to you.

I personally prefer watching DH, but I think you are wrong that non-bikers are more excited by DH....

its usually 2 hours of guys coming down a hill in a very similar time and then only gets good for the last 15 or so.......

I know what you mean about the lane choice deciding the race in 4X, but hopefully course designers are starting to design this out....to make better racing...

even some mountain bikers will admit that watching a dh race is pretty boring (and they have...in even folks who write for Dirt have admitted this fact...)

supersonic

Lets be honest, all this is more exciting than bloody track cycling. Round and round and round....

mrfmilo

cee

Some people prefer 4x than DH. But my opinion is that DH is more gripping and exciting for the majority of people. DH is faster, close crashes etc and each time the rider reaches the finish the 'suspense' of the miliseconds faster or slower.

And quite a few bikers or skaters that I know/talked to only comment on DH stuff not XC, 4X etc.

singlespeedexplosif

Lets be honest, all this is more exciting than bloody track cycling. Round and round and round....

round and round, rather than just down?
the first one sounds more interesting to me...

supersonic

Yep, all those obstacles!

But you have a singlespeed, your opinion is invalid ;-)

kangaroo

the mags are always saying that 4x is a "more viewable" sport than DH, if i remember wasn't 4x set up to be a "more viewable" event, with a short course so they can get more camera coverage and short times to all in the aid of making it more tv friendly.
but, it isn't more viewable or more interesting than DH. of the two DH is massively more viewable than 4x. i know if i have the mtb world cup on i will sometimes switch 4x off, i just don't find it interesting. DH on the other hand can be very gripping, especially when times are up to the wire
xc is also quite boring to watch especially if you don't know any of the competitors, add in the fact that the terrain xc races cover doesn't translate well to a 2d tv screen and it has tendency's to look like there mainly riding fireroads
DH though looks very exciting on tv, even though some of the gradient dont transpose well to tv
and as for drama and suspense, look at the world cup and peatys win. that was edge of your seat stuff
DH in the Olympics would get my vote over any other form of cycling

NatoED

i think all MTB disciplines should be added in fact you could then have then have a triathlon of XC and trials one day then DH the other all on the same bike..........now that would be GREAT. Then individual events in XC ,trials , DH and BSX (not 4X) .