Dumbest Olympic events?

• said_aouita

  

  Wutda hell? Anyone else catching the "marathon swimming" race? It's on the NBC main channel right now....
  
  hmm
• vball10set

  said_aouita;1243214 wrote:Wutda hell? Anyone else catching the "marathon swimming" race? It's on the NBC main channel right now....
  
  hmm

  I never heard of it
• gut

  Yeah, race walking is pathetic. They average @6 1/2 minute miles for 20k. So it is, essentially, a half marathon for athletes that aren't good enough to compete in a real sport (much like sync diving).
  
  The sport is essentially for people that can run a decent mile while LOOKING like they are walking. And watching it all - it looks like something that belongs in the special olympics.
• said_aouita

  

  gut;1243279 wrote:Yeah, race walking is pathetic. They average @6 1/2 minute miles for 20k. So it is, essentially, a half marathon for athletes that aren't good enough to compete in a real sport (much like sync diving).
  
  The sport is essentially for people that can run a decent mile while LOOKING like they are walking. And watching it all - it looks like something that belongs in the special olympics.

  
  If I was doing a road race and was about to get passed by a race walker, guarantee he's going down.
• Fly4Fun

  

  vball10set;1243232 wrote:I never heard of it

  I'm assuming he is talking about the Open water event. It's a 10k race in open water (not the pool).
• vball10set

  Fly4Fun;1243357 wrote:I'm assuming he is talking about the Open water event. It's a 10k race in open water (not the pool).

  Thank you
• gut

  Fly4Fun;1243357 wrote:I'm assuming he is talking about the Open water event. It's a 10k race in open water (not the pool).

  So basically an event for people who are like 1/3 of a great triathlete! lmao
• Fly4Fun

  

  gut;1243362 wrote:So basically an event for people who are like 1/3 of a great triathlete! lmao

  Eh, triathlons are heavily favored towards good runners. The swimming portion is so short compared to the running portion it doesn't really help anyone to be a great swimmer. So I disagree.
  
  I think the more at comparison was made earlier. There are track and field events then the marathon. There are swimming event then the open water event. Swimming an open water event is a different style of swimming from the traditional races. A very different training regimen is used and a different style of stroke has to be employed as well.
• said_aouita

  

  The BMX short track crap needs to stick with the X-games and not be in the Olympics.
  
  They add events to the Olympics now based entirely on profit margin and marketability.
• Automatik

  

  raiderbuck;1243086 wrote:Race Walk, hands down.

  +1
  
  I'm at an airport bar and this garbage is on live. So retarded.
  
  Anyone who says ping pong is crazy. I love that shit!
• Fab1b

  

  Agree this walking is horrible
• Fly4Fun

  

  Was hoping to watch some olympics while working out. I had to decide between race walking and rhythmic gymnastics. Miserable.
• Sonofanump

  said_aouita;1243214 wrote:Wutda hell? Anyone else catching the "marathon swimming" race? It's on the NBC main channel right now....
  
  hmm

  I never knew it existed, but like it.
• reclegend22

  

  Well, right now I am watching a girl twirl flags and they just said that she's going to win the gold. So that would get my vote as number one.
  
  This sport, it seems, is for people who lack any balance and could not successfully walk a beam. Truly lackluster and pathetic. Maybe Jordan Wieber should have tried it.
• Ironman92

  

  slcoach;1243191 wrote:I like to watch events that I can tell who won. With the gymnastics and diving, I can't tell shit other than the bounce on the dismount and splash when they hit the water. When I see some little Kenyan running away from people, I can tell he's winning gold. Show me 10 dives and I couldn't tell you a 6.5 from a 9.5.

  
  Just listen to that annoying shit woman analyst....she'll get you there.
• said_aouita

  

  Cross country needs added to the Olympics.
  They have open water long swimming. They have a marathon on the roads.
  Closest thing is the pentathlon, but that event involves shooting.
  
  They need to add a 12k cross country race to the Olympics. Make the course tough with lots of turns. Would have been perfect this year, considering all the rain they always get. Purposely have part of the course flooded.
  The IAAF has a world cross country championships. No reason why the IOC does not.
  
  
  Cross country is the most original "sport" in the world. Even the cave man ran cross country. It was called being the hunter or the hunted.
  
  
  
  That is all.
• superman

  Anyone who complains about team handball hasn't seen Norway's women's team I could watch them play all day.
• reclegend22

  

  said_aouita;1244811 wrote:Cross country needs added to the Olympics.
  They have open water long swimming. They have a marathon on the roads.
  Closest thing is the pentathlon, but that event involves shooting.
  
  They need to add a 12k cross country race to the Olympics. Make the course tough with lots of turns. Would have been perfect this year, considering all the rain they always get. Purposely have part of the course flooded.
  The IAAF has a world cross country championships. No reason why the IOC does not.
  
  
  Cross country is the most original "sport" in the world. Even the cave man ran cross country. It was called being the hunter or the hunted.
  
  
  
  That is all.

  It's not? I just assumed Cross Country was already an Olympic sport and that Steve Prefontaine won like 10 golds. None of this happened?
  
  On second look, I just checked cross country's wikipedia page and cross was in fact an Olympic sport in the early 1900s. It was officially dropped from the Olympic program in 1924.
  
  My little sister runs cross country and when she asks me if I am ever coming to one of her meets, I always reply, "Yeah, I'm going to drive 30 miles to go watch you run into the woods and never come back." The stamina and training required for that sport is ridiculous, though. I could never do it. Having smoked through college certainly didn't help things, however. I'm glad I gave that habit up.
• said_aouita

  

  reclegend22;1244821 wrote: My little sister runs cross country and when she asks me if I am ever coming to one of her meets, I always reply, "Yeah, I'm going to drive 30 miles to go watch you run into the woods and never come back.".

  
  Many courses suck and just loop around the outside of the school property. Great for the fans, horrible for the runners.
  
  A challenging course is fun for some XC fans. You watch the NCAA's and thousands of fans sprint from area to area to cheer everyone on. Same thing in HS, it's fun sometimes to "race" from point A to point B, especially when getting mile splits.
• reclegend22

  

  said_aouita;1244827 wrote:Many courses suck and just loop around the outside of the school property. Great for the fans, horrible for the runners.
  
  A challenging course is fun for some XC fans. You watch the NCAA's and thousands of fans sprint from area to area to cheer everyone on. Same thing in HS, it's fun sometimes to "race" from point A to point B, especially when getting mile splits.

  This is exactly what I was referencing. Not sure if you are familiar with the course in Tiffin -- can't remember the name -- but there are like 10 minutes of the event were the action for fans just stops and the racers just venture off into a forest. There are fans, as you say, who decide to sprint around like headless deer, but I am not going to risk dislocating my knee in the midst of a frenzy of idiots.
  
  For the diehard fans and parents, I suppose, I can understand why that might be exciting. I get it. It's just not for me.
• Ironman92

  

  reclegend22;1244831 wrote: There are fans, as you say, who decide to sprint around like headless deer, but I am not going to risk dislocating my knee in the midst of a frenzy of idiots.

  
  Having coached XC for 9 seasons this made be lol and my wife (awakened from her nap) asked me what the heck I was laughing at.
  
  Thanks....well described
• like_that

  

  You mean xc isn't as popular as ccrunner makes it out to be?!?!
• Ironman92

  

  like_that;1244891 wrote:You mean xc isn't as popular as ccrunner makes it out to be?!?!

  
  Popular? Not the word I'd use. I teach in farmville and 3 years ago my girls made it to the regionals for the first time in school history....but it's a monumental struggle to even get the necessary 5 girls (or boys) to participate each season.....whereas the only other girl sport in the fall that my school offers (volleyball) has close to 40 girls in the program every year and we only have around 90 girls 9-12.
  
  I knew nothing about it in school...but coaching it has been very rewarding. Most of those kids are tough as nails.
• said_aouita

  

  It's a blast when some small HS team can pick up a new runner his Senior year. Then he turns out to be a lot better then anticipated. Sure wish M. would have quit golfing a few years ago.
  
  
  
  Like Ironman touched on, some schools struggle to just have 5 guys. Let alone 5 quality runners. Pretty common around small schools to hear conversations about needing one or two more runners.
  Few years ago Graham boys made it to state and even placed top 10. Only had 7 guys total on their entire team.
  
  
  
  Cross country is a lot different than track with a lot more strategy involved. That's the bad thing with Olympic track, all the distance events turn into sprints and waiting until the last lap....
• said_aouita

  

  ccrunner609;1244992 wrote:If they are doing 6:30's per mile.....they are already way ahead of you.

  As long as my 1st mile is at least 6:25, I'm golden.