You can now win an Olympic Gold Medal in......

[Captainron]

See that breakdancing has been included as an Olympic Sport in Paris. What the actual?!? The French have always been a touch “different” in their popular culture but this just takes the biscuit. Breakdancing went out of fashion decades ago.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/olympics/55223554

 

[Blue in Munich]

If you can't count it, weigh it, measure it or time it then it shouldn't be in there.

 

[BiMGuy]

I think it's fantastic. Certainly more interesting than running round a track, throwing sticks or many of the other sports already included.

 

[chrisd]

[QUOTE="Captainron, post: 2273326, member: Breakdancing went out of fashion decades ago.

[/QUOTE]


You tell me that, just as I was getting to Olympic standard ??

 

[Lord Tyrion]

I think they do it just to annoy people. It degrades medals, reduces the prestige of them.

 

[Slab]

I think they do it just to annoy people. It degrades medals, reduces the prestige of them.

To be fair having a team half full of asthmatics popping meds on special exemptions kinda reduces the prestige and degrades a medal

 

[Orikoru]

If you can't count it, weigh it, measure it or time it then it shouldn't be in there.

I agree with this, actually. I've never been that much into the Olympics, except when it was in London, but the sheer amount of sports they've chucked in is daft. It should just be who can jump the furthest, throw the furthest, run the fastest - individual endeavours. I don't even know why team sports are there, let alone things like dancing or boxing where you have to source impartial judges from other nations.

 

[Kellfire]

Imagine how the first people thought about the idea of running around about just to see who could get to the end slightly sooner...

 

[GB72]

I think it depends on you stand point. I guess this has as much right to be there as, for example Ice dancing in the Winter Olympics or even, to a certain extent, gymnastics. It is a discipline where the winner is a matter of opinion rather than fact and that, to me, means it should not be in the Olympics but, then again, that would wipe out no end of sports from the current roster.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

To be fair having a team half full of asthmatics popping meds on special exemptions kinda reduces the prestige and degrades a medal

Agreed. They already have an uphill credibility battle without chucking in Mickey Mouse events as well.

 

[Slab]

Agreed. They already have an uphill credibility battle without chucking in Mickey Mouse events as well.

To be honest whatever gets MC Hammer out of retirement and back in the ring is OK with me

 

[rudebhoy]

If you can't count it, weigh it, measure it or time it then it shouldn't be in there.

so gymnastics is banned then?

 

[BiMGuy]

so gymnastics is banned then?

And many other sports.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

so gymnastics is banned then?

There can never be a place for Rythmic Gymnastics . What the heck is that about?

To your point as a whole, I wouldn't have it in there. It is subjective.

 

[Dibby]

Where do you stop with banning subjective sports?

Even wrestling, boxing, swimming (outside freestyle) and weightlifting are somewhat subjective, because there are better ways to beat someone in a fight, get a weight overhead, or travel in water if you don't have a rule restricting how you can do it. Ultimately this would restrict the Olympics down to the athletics world championships.

 

[Dando]

See that breakdancing has been included as an Olympic Sport in Paris. What the actual?!? The French have always been a touch “different” in their popular culture but this just takes the biscuit. Breakdancing went out of fashion decades ago.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/olympics/55223554

they are thinking of making swearing an Olympic sport. the final will between you and @Lilyhawk

 

[Lord Tyrion]

Where do you stop with banning subjective sports?

Even wrestling, boxing, swimming (outside freestyle) and weightlifting are somewhat subjective, because there are better ways to beat someone in a fight, get a weight overhead, or travel in water if you don't have a rule restricting how you can do it. Ultimately this would restrict the Olympics down to the athletics world championships.

I don't understand the swimming point. You are given a distance, a style of stroke and then the winner is the one who completes the swim in the fastest time. It's the equivalent of running around a track. There is nothing subjective there, it is fastest wins.

Weightlifting, heaviest weight lifted base on class? Questionable due to the number of failed drugs tests in recent Olympics so there is a case for dropping that.

Wrestling, I don't know how it is marked but do you win by throws? If it's clear, it stays in, if like boxing it goes.

Boxing - Agree, subjective so drop it.

There are quite a few we go through which could be dropped to be fair.

 

[GB72]

On the subjective side, you would lose gymnastics, diving but not too much else from the summer olympics and then ice dancing and any number of freestyle events from the winter games. Cannot see some of those ever being removed (gymnastics especially) and so the door will remain open for more and more subjective events. With what is in now, I would not be surprised to see ballroom dancing on the roster of events soon.

In my opinion, the Olympics has become a massively bloated event. I would not see it as any major loss if all events were removed that did not take place in the track and field stadium, pool and velodrome (OK perhaps with the marathon taking place outside).

 

[Deleted member 15344]

Why do people always suggest “drop this and drop that” because it’s a sport where people are judged - for years there have been sports where people are judged to a specific criteria

The Olympics is superb in bringing these sports to the masses and highlighting that there are other sports out there beyond the main stream

I would prefer that they remove the likes of Golf from the Olympics and leave all sports where the pinnacle of that sport is winning an Olympic Gold medal

The best thing about the Olympics is the diversity and seeing all these new sports and helping them grow - you only have to look at what 2012 did for the likes of dressage and how it captured the nation

Maybe I’m not cynical enough or too much of a sport romantic - but the more of these random sports the better - every sport deserves to have a pinnacle and to be in the limelight even if just for a month

 

[greenone]

Any sport where a gold medal isn't the peak of the sport should be dropped.