New Sports At The Olympics

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  • Jimbro66Jimbro66 Frets: 2418

    I've competed in Tae Kwon Do but I've never seen a Karate tournament so I'm interested to see how different it will be.
    Are they retaining Tae Kwon Do too? Karate at the highest levels is generally less animated than Tae Kwon Do so I would say perhaps less of a spectator sport. Is it perhaps more of a political move to introduce a Japanese sport at their Olympics.

    (I'm commenting as a former karate instructor and national competitor). 
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  • LegionreturnsLegionreturns Frets: 7965
    There used to be a thing about Amateur athletes for the Olympics. 

    With regard to the top stars of sports that already have their own huge events, the competitors should be chosen from Amateur ranks, not the elite mega money stars. 

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  • LegionreturnsLegionreturns Frets: 7965
    edited July 2021
    drofluf said:
    Can't wait for climbing. It is a really exciting sport that is highly skillful. Perfect Olympic fodder.

    Tennis, Football, Baseball, Golf etc should be nowhere near the Olympics.
    I’d actually extend that to synchronised swimming, gymnastics, diving or any other activity where the winner is chosen on a subjective basis. I acknowledge that they’re all disciplines that require skill, dedication etc. but if the winner is obviously the first one across the line or the most goals/points then it’s not a sport to me. There’s even pressure to get chess accepted as an Olympic sport FFS!
    Don't get me started on this - I agree all competitors have spent hours perfecting the art and I can't knock that oneiota  - But I prefer it when the winner is chosen by 'first past the post' on time, distance, points scored etc - Not by a panel of judges and an 'opinion' - My daughter disagrees with me on this, especially as she did gymnastics for a while and loves to watch Simone Biles - We know Boult won, and Mo, and Redgrave + Jason Kenny + Hockey team etc etc

    Time for me to retreat 
    The worst of these us dressage! 

    Not only is it entirely subjective, but a ley person can rarely tell the difference between a good performance or a world class one, and even then, it's the fucking horse that does all the work... / prancing  / walking in a vaguely pretty way.

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  • DiscoStuDiscoStu Frets: 5373
    edited July 2021
    I'm looking forward to the Microblading. That should raise some eyebrows.
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  • SimonhSimonh Frets: 1358
    Bring in darts...
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  • guitars4youguitars4you Frets: 14029
    tFB Trader
    There used to be a thing about Amateur athletes for the Olympics. 

    With regard to the top stars of sports that already have their own huge events, the competitors should be chosen from Amateur ranks, not the elite mega money stars. 
    I can see where you are coming from - And in say tennis or golf we know Murray and Tiger Woods earn big bucks from the events they compete in, so clear to establish them as professional sports stars

    Can we say the same about Michael Phelps for instance - He would earn little money from winning a swimming race - But he is a professional athlete with regards time spent training, competing, dedication etc and not having to worry about that 9-5 day job - I know he earns big bucks from sponsorship, but his income from years of competing in the pool is very little, in comparison
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  • guitars4youguitars4you Frets: 14029
    tFB Trader
    Simonh said:
    Bring in darts...
    dominoes - skittles - tiddly winks - even croquet (without looking I bet it was in the Olympics in the past) 

    TBH I'm not sure why Netball is not allowed 
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  • hollywoodroxhollywoodrox Frets: 4080
    fob said:
    There are a few new sports making their debut at the Tokyo Olympics this year:

    Baseball (men) and Softball (women) - I think these have been included before and are being reintroduced.

    Climbing - a few may scoff at this one but I find it quite exciting to watch.

    Karate - looking forward to this. I 'played' Judo for years but it's one of the dullest sports to watch.

    Skateboarding - not for me but I'm sure this will be hugely popular.

    Surfing - this will be interesting to watch; it feels like the 'surf' would play a massive part in the outcome.


    I don't understand how Squash isn't an Olympic sport - incredibly popular, exciting to watch and requires real athleticism. It almost feels like there's some conspiracy against it by the Olympic committee. Conversely, I don't think Tennis should be in (and I love Tennis) - any sport where the Olympic gold isn't the biggest achievement in the sport shouldn't be there as far as I'm concerned.

    What do you make of the new inclusions? Any sports you think should be included? Any that should be taken out?
    Ooh I hope to watch the skate boarding m only recently given up after 44 years as the risk to fingers and wrists for playing guitar was too much , I may still get a cruiser though , some 80s pig board like a signature rob roskop , but I need to spend what money I have saving or buying guitar stuff ,could really use a noise suppressor 
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  • tony99tony99 Frets: 7076
    Jimbro66 said:

    I've competed in Tae Kwon Do but I've never seen a Karate tournament so I'm interested to see how different it will be.
    Are they retaining Tae Kwon Do too? Karate at the highest levels is generally less animated than Tae Kwon Do so I would say perhaps less of a spectator sport. Is it perhaps more of a political move to introduce a Japanese sport at their Olympics.

    (I'm commenting as a former karate instructor and national competitor). 
    I think the karate is to be split into awards for contest and separate awards for kata; not sure how they'll grade the kata

    I hope they have kept the tae kwon do, would like to see JJ ace it again
    Bollocks you don't know Bono !!
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  • scrumhalfscrumhalf Frets: 11262
    If you can have multiple medals for some sports then why not others?

    For football we could have the normal eleven-a-side and in addition we could have medals for head tennis, keepy uppie, penalties (insert joke here), five-a-side, six-a-side and more.

    For me the Olympics lost its allure when highly-paid competitors were allowed in. It can only redeem itself by bringing in test cricket. 
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  • fobfob Frets: 1430
    There used to be a thing about Amateur athletes for the Olympics. 

    With regard to the top stars of sports that already have their own huge events, the competitors should be chosen from Amateur ranks, not the elite mega money stars. 
    I can see where you are coming from - And in say tennis or golf we know Murray and Tiger Woods earn big bucks from the events they compete in, so clear to establish them as professional sports stars

    Can we say the same about Michael Phelps for instance - He would earn little money from winning a swimming race - But he is a professional athlete with regards time spent training, competing, dedication etc and not having to worry about that 9-5 day job - I know he earns big bucks from sponsorship, but his income from years of competing in the pool is very little, in comparison
    I think there was always a little bit of a blur when it came to sponsorship - in whatever form that came. I remember thinking of Teofilo Stevenson as one of the great Olympians but then heard that he lived a very different life to the average Cuban - took the shine off a little. The tipping point was probably when the USA were desperate to have the 'Dream Team' compete in the Olympics. Basketball seemed to be in a golden age (Jordan etc) and they just needed the world to know it, despite the rest of the world not being that bothered. They had the clout to make it happen and now we have Murray in the tennis, Rose in the golf...
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  • fobfob Frets: 1430
    scrumhalf said:
    If you can have multiple medals for some sports then why not others?

    For football we could have the normal eleven-a-side and in addition we could have medals for head tennis, keepy uppie, penalties (insert joke here), five-a-side, six-a-side and more.

    For me the Olympics lost its allure when highly-paid competitors were allowed in. It can only redeem itself by bringing in test cricket. 
    Another bugbear of mine. I love the swimming - I think it really does a great job of opening the games - but to have anything other than freestyle is a nonsense really. In the athletics you don't have the 100m, 100m backwards, 100m sideways while clapping your hands above your head.
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  • HAL9000HAL9000 Frets: 9550
    I’d get rid of anything where marks are awarded for artistic interpretation.
    I play guitar because I enjoy it rather than because I’m any good at it
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  • EricTheWearyEricTheWeary Frets: 16253
    I have a very clear, if largely disliked, view that anything involving non interactive turn taking is not a sport - darts, high jump, long jump, shot put, etc. These are forms of exercise or pastimes. 
    I also dislike anything that is essentially rich people's hobbies so that includes anything involving a yacht, horses and most winter sports ( probably all winter sports but I haven't gone through a list). 
    Squash is fine but to make it more authentic the scores should be cross tabulated with that month's new car sales. Surfing needs to be in shark infested waters otherwise who cares. 
    The number of types of cycling races need to be reduced, there's just too much of it, and no velodromes only canal paths with the odd surprise Staffie cross jumping out the bushes. All cyclists must be able to demonstrate that they can change a tyre using two old desert spoons to qualify.  
    Tipton is a small fishing village in the borough of Sandwell. 
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  • LastMantraLastMantra Frets: 3822
    Motorbike trials. Or at least bring back kick-start!

    Tbh I'm not that keen on the modern man made obstacle arena stuff. Needs mud and water and rain and big slimey rocks and guys pulling bikes out of ditches. 
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  • Philly_QPhilly_Q Frets: 22515
    It seems a lot of you won't be watching the Olympics then.... the TV audience will be echoing the crowd-free venues in Tokyo.
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  • kaypeejaykaypeejay Frets: 775
    Many a happy evening has been whiled away in the pub discussing what is a sport with the criteria that is can't be sport if you can easily smoke a fag while you are doing it. Although rhythmic gymnastics might be better if one of the disciplines was smoking a fag while doing handstands or somesuch.
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  • sev112sev112 Frets: 2739
    Throwing a spear a long way is so so, but really the most important thing is can you hit a running pig at 30 yards 
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  • guitars4youguitars4you Frets: 14029
    edited July 2021 tFB Trader
    kaypeejay said:
    Many a happy evening has been whiled away in the pub discussing what is a sport with the criteria that is can't be sport if you can easily smoke a fag while you are doing it. Although rhythmic gymnastics might be better if one of the disciplines was smoking a fag while doing handstands or somesuch.
    I can thing of some good ways to  make rhythmic gymnastics far more interesting and somehow couple it up with Beach Volleyball
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  • UnclePsychosisUnclePsychosis Frets: 12879
    I've been to The World Games a couple of times - it's like the Olympics for sports that aren't in the Olympics - and the last time got to saw some competitive speed climbing.

    1. It's absolutely insane
    2. Those guys are really talented
    3. I loved watching it... But.... 
    4.... each "race" is over in literally seconds and it takes them minutes to set up. Consequently as a spectator event it leaves something lacking. Imagine going to watch the athletics but the only event was the 100m - the boredom to excitement ratio wasn't great. 

    The problem with the Olympics these days is like all professional sporting events it has become entirely dominated by sponsorship and money. Lots of sports are only included because they snuck in early enough, others like squash probably should be in, but aren't. It would be interesting to see what the programme would look like if the entire concept was revisited. Personally I'd dump football and tennis immediately - I do like the idea that "if Olympic gold isn't the biggest achievement in your sport, you shouldn't be in". 

    (having said they should dump football I'd love to see Olympic Futsal, that would be awesome). 

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