New Olympic sports

seanoconn

Enjoyed the sport climbing

Pross

verylonglegs said:

Was there a car waxing and sanding the floor section in the karate?

Pretty much. It certainly had the standing on one leg Crane kick. I did karate for quite a few years as a kid and thought it was total shite.

By contrast, I sneer at the 'artistic' swimming as much as anyone but caught some of the highlights and some of the stuff they do is seriously impressive physically as was as technically. How they manage to virtually lift themselves out of the water I can't work out. I'm still not convinced it has a place in the Olympics though and I'm slightly surprised that something requiring close ups of women in very high legged swimming costumes is deemed appropriate in this day and age (also not really in keeping with the push for equality in all the sports as it's only open to women).

ugo.santalucia

seanoconn said:

Enjoyed the sport climbing

Yes, predictably that was good... impressive how fast they can go up a wall, I'd probably run at that speed...

DeVlaeminck

I thought the climbing was dull - I don't really see the appeal at all as a spectator sport. Maybe if it athlete Vs athlete and the loser is eliminated but the time trial format just doesn't do it for me.

ddraver

I have a feeling we may see Zwift Racing in the Olympics before we get the IP back...

https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/olympics/new-sports-2024-breakdancing-esports-b1899302.html

JimD666

DeVlaeminck said:

I thought the climbing was dull - I don't really see the appeal at all as a spectator sport. Maybe if it athlete Vs athlete and the loser is eliminated but the time trial format just doesn't do it for me.

I'd guess you only watched the speed climb part of the qualifiers? Everything else including the speed climb in the finals was athlete vs athlete. Timer still ran as the World Record can (and was) be broken.

EDIT: Somewhat more "preachy" than I'd intended.

ddraver

Was the lead wall timed or is it just for info in case of a draw? I thought what mattered was how high they got?

DeVlaeminck

JimD666 said:

DeVlaeminck said:

I thought the climbing was dull - I don't really see the appeal at all as a spectator sport. Maybe if it athlete Vs athlete and the loser is eliminated but the time trial format just doesn't do it for me.

I'd guess you only watched the speed climb part of the qualifiers? Everything else including the speed climb in the finals was athlete vs athlete. Timer still ran as the World Record can (and was) be broken.

EDIT: Somewhat more "preachy" than I'd intended.

Ah yes I gave up after watching that - sounds like I should have stuck with it !

DeVlaeminck

I think I'd draw the line at eSports. I don't mind the idea of break dancing - but not FIFA.

rick_chasey

DeVlaeminck said:

I think I'd draw the line at eSports. I don't mind the idea of break dancing - but not FIFA.

Do you game?

kingstongraham

ddraver said:

Was the lead wall timed or is it just for info in case of a draw? I thought what mattered was how high they got?

They had 6 minutes to get as high as possible.

If there was a tie on highest hold reached, then fastest would have won.

DeVlaeminck

rick_chasey said:

DeVlaeminck said:

I think I'd draw the line at eSports. I don't mind the idea of break dancing - but not FIFA.

Do you game?

No I haven't played a video game since my kids were actually kids and that was through them - the last time I owned a video game (that probably dates me - do you own games now ?) would be about 40 years ago I'd have been around 13.

I did actually vaguely know a professional FIFA player and that's as close as I've come to esports - he was going out with one of my football team - was part of Hashtag United.

They just don't seem to me to be sports - they aren't physically taxing - nothing actually against playing video games.

kingstongraham

DeVlaeminck said:

I think I'd draw the line at eSports. I don't mind the idea of break dancing - but not FIFA.

Imagine how good any of the gymnasts could be at breakdancing if they wanted to do it by just doing some elements of their floor routine and learning how to spin on their head.

DeVlaeminck

kingstongraham said:

DeVlaeminck said:

I think I'd draw the line at eSports. I don't mind the idea of break dancing - but not FIFA.

Imagine how good any of the gymnasts could be at breakdancing if they wanted to do it by just doing some elements of their floor routine and learning how to spin on their head.

You do wonder if there is an element of be careful what you wish for. Do break dancers want their "sport" to be dominated by national teams - same with some of the other new sports like BMX and skating I suppose does their ethos fit with the pursuit of medals by national associations ? Time will tell.

pblakeney

rick_chasey said:

DeVlaeminck said:

I think I'd draw the line at eSports. I don't mind the idea of break dancing - but not FIFA.

Do you game?

IMO the answer is in the question. It is a game.
I'd put it on a par with darts. Undoubted that skill is involved, but not a sport.

rick_chasey

pblakeney said:

rick_chasey said:

DeVlaeminck said:

I think I'd draw the line at eSports. I don't mind the idea of break dancing - but not FIFA.

Do you game?

IMO the answer is in the question. It is a game.
I'd put it on a par with darts. Undoubted that skill is involved, but not a sport.

No they’re not sports.

They’re esports.

pblakeney

rick_chasey said:

pblakeney said:

rick_chasey said:

DeVlaeminck said:

I think I'd draw the line at eSports. I don't mind the idea of break dancing - but not FIFA.

Do you game?

IMO the answer is in the question. It is a game.
I'd put it on a par with darts. Undoubted that skill is involved, but not a sport.

No they’re not sports.

They’re esports.

No disagreement.
Suitable for the Olympics though?

rick_chasey

pblakeney said:

rick_chasey said:

pblakeney said:

rick_chasey said:

DeVlaeminck said:

I think I'd draw the line at eSports. I don't mind the idea of break dancing - but not FIFA.

Do you game?

IMO the answer is in the question. It is a game.
I'd put it on a par with darts. Undoubted that skill is involved, but not a sport.

No they’re not sports.

They’re esports.

No disagreement.
Suitable for the Olympics though?

Meh probably not but they can be really entertaining.

They have their problems (the most popular esports are just old and not what most people play) but they’re ok if you’re into it.

TheBigBean

DeVlaeminck said:

kingstongraham said:

DeVlaeminck said:

I think I'd draw the line at eSports. I don't mind the idea of break dancing - but not FIFA.

Imagine how good any of the gymnasts could be at breakdancing if they wanted to do it by just doing some elements of their floor routine and learning how to spin on their head.

You do wonder if there is an element of be careful what you wish for. Do break dancers want their "sport" to be dominated by national teams - same with some of the other new sports like BMX and skating I suppose does their ethos fit with the pursuit of medals by national associations ? Time will tell.

You can see the change in the snowboard half-pipe and slopestyle. Quality is much higher, but some of them now come from a gymnastics background.

morstar

A mature sport should be able to accommodate all the different approaches.
Snowboarding has managed to absorb the racing mindset without diluting its free riding roots.
If anything it has helped skiing evolve as a sport.

ddraver

morstar said:

If anything it has helped skiing evolve as a sport.

I think it's even flipped back now - in Freeride especially

TheBigBean

morstar said:

A mature sport should be able to accommodate all the different approaches.
Snowboarding has managed to absorb the racing mindset without diluting its free riding roots.
If anything it has helped skiing evolve as a sport.

So far, but there is a reason that there isn't much interest in ski aerials, and that's that it has little to do with skiing. As snowboarding introduces big air, I could see it ending up in a similar way.

pblakeney

TheBigBean said:

morstar said:

A mature sport should be able to accommodate all the different approaches.
Snowboarding has managed to absorb the racing mindset without diluting its free riding roots.
If anything it has helped skiing evolve as a sport.

So far, but there is a reason that there isn't much interest in ski aerials, and that's that it has little to do with skiing. As snowboarding introduces big air, I could see it ending up in a similar way.

Disagree.
Snowboarding has come from surfing and skateboarding. Big air matters.

TheBigBean

pblakeney said:

TheBigBean said:

morstar said:

A mature sport should be able to accommodate all the different approaches.
Snowboarding has managed to absorb the racing mindset without diluting its free riding roots.
If anything it has helped skiing evolve as a sport.

So far, but there is a reason that there isn't much interest in ski aerials, and that's that it has little to do with skiing. As snowboarding introduces big air, I could see it ending up in a similar way.

Disagree.
Snowboarding has come from surfing and skateboarding. Big air matters.

Until it is just air. Then it doesn't. For example, the first guy to land a quad whatever was criticised for not being able to get down a black run. I imagine that is made up nonsense, but it reflects a changing view that skills on land are also valued.

morstar

TheBigBean said:

morstar said:

A mature sport should be able to accommodate all the different approaches.
Snowboarding has managed to absorb the racing mindset without diluting its free riding roots.
If anything it has helped skiing evolve as a sport.

So far, but there is a reason that there isn't much interest in ski aerials, and that's that it has little to do with skiing. As snowboarding introduces big air, I could see it ending up in a similar way.

Agree with that. Ski aerials is rubbish.
It’s as relevant to skiing as the 10m dive is to swimming.
A venue, kit and medium in common but little else.

I’m an old guy and love a bit of slalom and DH but also love to see the sport evolve.
Too old now and was never flexible enough to do what the kids do these days but love to watch people pushing the sport forwards.
The parks are more accessible than the stupid hunt for bits of interesting mountain to fall off too.

pblakeney

TheBigBean said:

pblakeney said:

TheBigBean said:

morstar said:

A mature sport should be able to accommodate all the different approaches.
Snowboarding has managed to absorb the racing mindset without diluting its free riding roots.
If anything it has helped skiing evolve as a sport.

So far, but there is a reason that there isn't much interest in ski aerials, and that's that it has little to do with skiing. As snowboarding introduces big air, I could see it ending up in a similar way.

Disagree.
Snowboarding has come from surfing and skateboarding. Big air matters.

Until it is just air. Then it doesn't. For example, the first guy to land a quad whatever was criticised for not being able to get down a black run. I imagine that is made up nonsense, but it reflects a changing view that skills on land are also valued.

Slalom has basically been confined to the outer fringes of skateboarding* and does not exist in surfing. I can see your point if coming from a skiing background but the half pipe and going downhill are treated as separate disciplines in snowboarding.
Use downhill and BMX in cycling as another comparison.

*Shame as it was something that I excelled at.

TheBigBean

pblakeney said:

TheBigBean said:

pblakeney said:

TheBigBean said:

morstar said:

A mature sport should be able to accommodate all the different approaches.
Snowboarding has managed to absorb the racing mindset without diluting its free riding roots.
If anything it has helped skiing evolve as a sport.

So far, but there is a reason that there isn't much interest in ski aerials, and that's that it has little to do with skiing. As snowboarding introduces big air, I could see it ending up in a similar way.

Disagree.
Snowboarding has come from surfing and skateboarding. Big air matters.

Until it is just air. Then it doesn't. For example, the first guy to land a quad whatever was criticised for not being able to get down a black run. I imagine that is made up nonsense, but it reflects a changing view that skills on land are also valued.

Slalom has basically been confined to the outer fringes of skateboarding* and does not exist in surfing. I can see your point if coming from a skiing background but the half pipe and going downhill are treated as separate disciplines in snowboarding.
Use downhill and BMX in cycling as another comparison.

*Shame as it was something that I excelled at.

Yes, I agree that slalom is pretty dead. Not helped by the change in stance on a snowboard so it is irrelevant to virtually every rider.

I suppose my point is that slopestyle needs to retain as much technical stuff as it can such as a rails and not descend into a ski aerials competition. The introduction of big air feels like a step towards the ski aerials, but perhaps it will just be a separate competition that won't attract much interest.

pblakeney

TheBigBean said:

pblakeney said:

TheBigBean said:

pblakeney said:

TheBigBean said:

morstar said:

A mature sport should be able to accommodate all the different approaches.
Snowboarding has managed to absorb the racing mindset without diluting its free riding roots.
If anything it has helped skiing evolve as a sport.

So far, but there is a reason that there isn't much interest in ski aerials, and that's that it has little to do with skiing. As snowboarding introduces big air, I could see it ending up in a similar way.

Disagree.
Snowboarding has come from surfing and skateboarding. Big air matters.

Until it is just air. Then it doesn't. For example, the first guy to land a quad whatever was criticised for not being able to get down a black run. I imagine that is made up nonsense, but it reflects a changing view that skills on land are also valued.

Slalom has basically been confined to the outer fringes of skateboarding* and does not exist in surfing. I can see your point if coming from a skiing background but the half pipe and going downhill are treated as separate disciplines in snowboarding.
Use downhill and BMX in cycling as another comparison.

*Shame as it was something that I excelled at.

Yes, I agree that slalom is pretty dead. Not helped by the change in stance on a snowboard so it is irrelevant to virtually every rider.

I suppose my point is that slopestyle needs to retain as much technical stuff as it can such as a rails and not descend into a ski aerials competition. The introduction of big air feels like a step towards the ski aerials, but perhaps it will just be a separate competition that won't attract much interest.

I think there will be 2 distinct competitions where people can cross over, or specialise.
Thing is that like skateboarding those that do it will appreciate the technical side of street/slopestyle but the general public will prefer the wow factor of the park/half pipe.

laurentian

pblakeney said:

rick_chasey said:

DeVlaeminck said:

I think I'd draw the line at eSports. I don't mind the idea of break dancing - but not FIFA.

Do you game?

IMO the answer is in the question. It is a game.
I'd put it on a par with darts. Undoubted that skill is involved, but not a sport.

I would say that if archery is considerd a sport then darts should be considered so too . . .

morstar

laurentian said:

pblakeney said:

rick_chasey said:

DeVlaeminck said:

I think I'd draw the line at eSports. I don't mind the idea of break dancing - but not FIFA.

Do you game?

IMO the answer is in the question. It is a game.
I'd put it on a par with darts. Undoubted that skill is involved, but not a sport.

I would say that if archery is considerd a sport then darts should be considered so too . . .

We’ve been here before. I know as I don’t classify darts as sport.
Archery should be running through the woods and shooting at targets with a simple bow.