How is speed walking an olympic sport?! - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

NuclearFart · 08-21-2008, 09:18 PM

Seeing this on TV just makes me want to change the channel. How can you have a race based on who's the fastest, while simultaneously limiting how fast one can move?

Not to mention how ridiculous they look; I've seen polio survivors move less awkwardly. What's next a crab walk race? Log rolling? Ministry of silly walk competition?

MrMastodonFarm · 08-21-2008, 09:20 PM

Yeah, some Olympic events are just bizarre. I've always found the alternate events puzzling. Race walking, and slower versions of swimming.

I watched the Steeplechase the other day, boy.. that one is just odd.

tussery · 08-21-2008, 09:23 PM

And how come some sports aren't in the olympics. They have tennis, badminton, table tennis, and handball. Where is racquetball?

Iowa_Flames_Fan · 08-21-2008, 09:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tussery

And how come some sports aren't. They have tennis, badminton, table tennis, and handball. Where is racquetball?

That grouping makes me suspect that you're confusing the "handball" that's played at the Y on racquetball courts by overweight guys in singlets with Olympic Handball, which is a team sport where the objective is to put a ball into a goal, like soccer.

If you weren't confused, please accept my apologies, but as an Icelander I had to pipe up since Iceland is in the semis in Handball. It's a sport with a long tradition around the world, even if it's not that popular in North America.

(BTW in principle I agree that racquetball should be there. Certainly ahead of table tennis)

PowerPlayoffs06 · 08-21-2008, 09:31 PM

I don't get why equestrian events are in the Olympics. Seriously, the horse does all the work. Basically, you get a medal for being able to stay on a horse the best. When a 60 year old can beat out people who are a fraction his age and win a gold medal, that should be a sign that maybe this isn't right for the Olympics.

MrMastodonFarm · 08-21-2008, 09:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Iowa_Flames_Fan

If you weren't confused, please accept my apologies, but as an Icelander I had to pipe up since Iceland is in the semis in Handball. It's a sport with a long tradition around the world, even if it's not that popular in North America.)

It was pretty popular in elementary and high school growing up for Gym class. And even more popular when a substitute teacher miss spoke and said "Okay, time to play Hand job!"

ricoFlame · 08-21-2008, 09:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tussery

And how come some sports aren't in the olympics. They have tennis, badminton, table tennis, and handball. Where is racquetball?

LOL, racquetball is the worst game ever. squash perhaps, but racquetball? good lord that would be awful.

GirlySports · 08-21-2008, 09:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NuclearFart

Seeing this on TV just makes me want to change the channel. How can you have a race based on who's the fastest, while simultaneously limiting how fast one can move?

Not to mention how ridiculous they look; I've seen polio survivors move less awkwardly. What's next a crab walk race? Log rolling? Ministry of silly walk competition?

I'm sore just watching that.
I'd like to see you walk anywhere for 4 hours let alone at a fast pace

octothorp · 08-21-2008, 10:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NuclearFart

Seeing this on TV just makes me want to change the channel. How can you have a race based on who's the fastest, while simultaneously limiting how fast one can move?

Not to mention how ridiculous they look; I've seen polio survivors move less awkwardly. What's next a crab walk race? Log rolling? Ministry of silly walk competition?

See the discussion in the Olympics thread about breaststroke vs. butterfly stroke, or freestyle vs. anything else.

A couple of the sports that are applying for instatement are golf and 7-on-7 rugby. I'm not sure how good a television sport raquetball is (haven't watched it on TV), but 7-on-7 rugby and golf would both be great.

RougeUnderoos · 08-21-2008, 10:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NuclearFart

Log rolling? Ministry of silly walk competition?

Ha. On the CBC Olympic coverage every evening they go to a CBC meteorologist and she gives a pretty thorough report of what the weather will be like in Beijing. Tonight it was interspersed with footage of the 50k speed walking and she said "what an odd sport, it looks like something Monty Python came up with".

Scott Oake didn't have much to say to that.

I was surprised to see that BMX is an event. I think it is as legit as any other cycling event, but it does seem kind of an odd fit for the Olympics.

Anyone else see the 62 pound "woman" diver in the 10 metre final? She could certainly do her twists and twirls, but damn, that's just unfair to an actual woman when they are judged partly on how big the splash is. The gal was built like a putter.

flylock shox · 08-21-2008, 10:59 PM

Thank you for this thread.

I've been thinking about starting something similar every day since the Olympics started. Now I have somewhere other than my living room in which to rant.

The very concept of race walking just makes no sense whatsoever. Same goes for all the stupid swimming strokes - only freestyle matters. Backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly: they're the aquatic equivalents of race walking. If you want to race from point A to point B, you use the fastest method. That's how races work.

And having just watched Tae-kwon-do for the first time, it's gotta go too. I have no idea what scores a point. It just seems random.

And synchro swimming. Just freaking weird really. Sure it's athletic, but it's got that Jon Benet Ramsay beauty pageant creepiness to it.

And BMX. Looks like Mariokart. Get a real bike I say.

Really they could chop this thing down to about 50% of its current size.

JD · 08-21-2008, 11:06 PM

And how about all the sailing events?

Why don't we start adding poker tournaments and shed-building and just about anything that requires a skill of some sort.

At least ballroom dancing was taken out. Yeesh.

T@T · 08-21-2008, 11:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RougeUnderoos

Anyone else see the 62 pound "woman" diver in the 10 metre final? She could certainly do her twists and twirls, but damn, that's just unfair to an actual woman when they are judged partly on how big the splash is. The gal was built like a putter.

WOW, really? I missed that, My 8 year old boy is 64lbs. How old was she?

HOOT · 08-21-2008, 11:13 PM

Speed Walking and Equestrian should all be booted out of the Olympics before Womens Softball neither of those have Jenny Finch!

icarus · 08-21-2008, 11:19 PM

Some people may laugh at me, but I think Olympic golf would be fun to watch.

HOOT · 08-21-2008, 11:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by icarus

Some people may laugh at me, but I think Olympic golf would be fun to watch.

I have been suggesting that all week. You could either play best score or even have an elimination brackets.

There are a lot of sports they could add to gain entertainment value and maybe even lengthen the competition.

T@T · 08-21-2008, 11:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HOOT

Speed Walking and Equestrian should all be booted out of the Olympics before Womens Softball neither of those have Jenny Finch!

Agreed, I can see booting baseball out as it's not much of an international sport outside of Japan and the americas but softball is played huge in almost every part of the world. If they boot softball they should boot basketball as well.

Equestrian is ######ed but at least speed-walking takes a fair bit of "athletics" to compete.

zarrell · 08-21-2008, 11:28 PM

Any sport that involves judging is no sport IMO. We all know which "sports" these are and have no chance of being eliminated from the Olympics because they are the darlings of the TV ratings. TV wins every time.

GirlySports · 08-21-2008, 11:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zarrell

Any sport that involves judging is no sport IMO. We all know which "sports" these are and have no chance of being eliminated from the Olympics because they are the darlings of the TV ratings. TV wins every time.

I don't know. alot of people were really turned off by gymnastics and diving this time because of the judging and the new scoring system (and the chinese being 7 years old).

People still prefer swimming and athletics to anything that is judged.

redforever · 08-21-2008, 11:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PowerPlayoffs06

I don't get why equestrian events are in the Olympics. Seriously, the horse does all the work. Basically, you get a medal for being able to stay on a horse the best. When a 60 year old can beat out people who are a fraction his age and win a gold medal, that should be a sign that maybe this isn't right for the Olympics.

You obviously have no clue about equestrian events.

It is not the age of the rider, it is the skill. Age has nothing to do with the equestrian events, except perhaps if they had the cross country endurance events. It is however all about the skill of the rider, it is that skill that makes the horse great.

And the equestrian events do not involve judging either, except perhaps dressage.