# 1512 Days to Master An Olympic Sport; Which One? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 5, 2008, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1512-days-to-master-an-olympic-sport-which-one/451817 "2008-06-05T00:46:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2008, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1512-days-to-master-an-olympic-sport-which-one/451817/41 "2008-06-05T19:15:03Z")
[QUOTE=Evil Was I] It’s 1512 days until the London Summer Olympic Games of 2012. Is there a sport that I could master between now and then so as to win an olympic medal? [/QUOTE] I sense another reality show on the horizon… ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2008, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1512-days-to-master-an-olympic-sport-which-one/451817/42 "2008-06-05T19:38:58Z")
The correct answer is no. You cannot do it. Your best bet is to pick an event you like and start training for the senior olympics. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2008, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1512-days-to-master-an-olympic-sport-which-one/451817/43 "2008-06-05T20:07:32Z")
[QUOTE=smiling bandit] [QUOTE=Dewey Finn] By definition, no sport is in the Olympic competition unless it’s widely played around the world. So you’re unlikely to be able to start from scratch on a sport and win a medal. However, you could follow the model of the Jamaican bobsled team and at least attend the Olympics as an athlete from a country where a sport is not competitive. (And actually, I would think that could be a very fun experience.) [/QUOTE] This is not true. Some of the “Olympic sports” are surprisingly local, and some of them barely qualify as “sports” at all. [/QUOTE] Can you name one? Because according to Wikipedia, a sport has to be played in 35 countries to be considered for competition by women and 50 countries for competition by men. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2008, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1512-days-to-master-an-olympic-sport-which-one/451817/44 "2008-06-05T21:09:11Z")
[QUOTE=Hello Again] for the most part there is no reward if you exceed the standard. [/QUOTE] According to [this site](http://www.modern-pentathlon.com/scoring.html), there definitely is: > [@](#): > > Each event of Modern Pentathlon is scored on a 1000 points scale. For the timed events, (swimming and running) there are set times that equals 1000 points. Each second more or less than these times is accessed a plus or minus point value. (Spelling errors are apparently not penalized.) > [@](#): > > … don’t you think that nearly any fairly fit person could achieve the above standards in 5 years Do you thus believe that nearly any fairly fit person could win a medal? How then to account for the fact that in each Olympics only three do? Were the other competitors less than fairly fit? Did they typically practice for less than 5 years? It seems valid to argue that a reasonably obscure sport like modern pentathlon offers a somewhat better chance. But not that a person of anything like average ability could realistically hope to win a medal (or even qualify to compete). ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2008, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1512-days-to-master-an-olympic-sport-which-one/451817/45 "2008-06-05T21:37:34Z")
[QUOTE=Cisco] Your best bet is to pick an event you like and start training for the senior olympics. [/QUOTE] Or crash your car on purpose and try for the paralympics. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2008, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1512-days-to-master-an-olympic-sport-which-one/451817/46 "2008-06-05T22:08:52Z")
[QUOTE=Dewey Finn] Can you name one? Because according to Wikipedia, a sport has to be played in 35 countries to be considered for competition by women and 50 countries for competition by men. [/QUOTE] Only new sports, many old ones are grandfathered in. ---
**Author:** ![bonzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@bonzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bonzer)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2008, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1512-days-to-master-an-olympic-sport-which-one/451817/47 "2008-06-05T22:11:52Z")
[QUOTE=Dead Cat] There was a British bloke a few years ago who basically tried what you are suggesting for darts (not an Olympic sport) - he gave up his job believing that if he practised constantly for months, he could be as good as the professionals. I don’t think much more has been heard from him. I would think all Olympic sports are probably more difficult to master than darts. QED. [/QUOTE] Justin Irwin. His _Observer Sport Monthly_ article about his quest and failure [is online](http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2008/jan/06/features.sport22). ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2008, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1512-days-to-master-an-olympic-sport-which-one/451817/48 "2008-06-05T23:06:54Z")
Does anyone know of a list of at the athletes at the most recent Winter and Summer Olympics and their ages? I’d be interested in knowing which are the sports for which being over age 50 isn’t a **prohibitive bar** to success. Three that I know of are shooting, equestrian, and curling, but there may be others (archery? fencing?) Of course, even for these sports, I doubt that you can _take them up_ at an advanced age and compete at an Olympic level, since you’d have the advantage of neither youth nor experience. I know for a fact that it’s damnably difficult to start curling in your forties. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2008, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1512-days-to-master-an-olympic-sport-which-one/451817/49 "2008-06-05T23:29:57Z")
[QUOTE=Xema] According to [this site](http://www.modern-pentathlon.com/scoring.html), there definitely is: [size=1]… Do you thus believe that nearly any fairly fit person could win a medal? How then to account for the fact that in each Olympics only three do? Were the other competitors less than fairly fit? Did they typically practice for less than 5 years?. [/QUOTE] “Normal” competitors are limited by money and time. Training for five events is both time-consuming and expensive, and presumably the “normals” have lives and obligations (family, jobs, school) unless they are lucky enough to score a sponsor somehow. It would be _extremely_ rare to train for this sport since childhood unless you are quite wealthy. As I have repeatedly said, there is a _chance_ it could be done, and success for the OP is dependent on unlimited funds and full-time training. “Many successful pentathletes were late developers in sport and started with humble abilities in only one of the five disciplines. Time and persistence are often superior to talent alone and modern pentathlon rewards those who are prepared to stick to a goal.” [http://www.pentathlon.org.au/info/criteria.php](http://www.pentathlon.org.au/info/criteria.php) ---
**Author:** ![samm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/858c86/32.png) [@samm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samm)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2008, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1512-days-to-master-an-olympic-sport-which-one/451817/50 "2008-06-06T00:04:37Z")
Wayne Channon just became somewhat famous in the dressage world. He bought a bunch of top of the line horses and trained with a very expensive big name trainer. He rode six horses a day every day with constant instruction for 6 years and I think he could qualify for the Olympics now. You only have four years and you would probably need four million dollars just for the horse flesh, that wouldn’t include any living/training expenses. Of course, you have to make it to the right shows at the right time with the right scores to qualify. But you might have a glimmer of hope in dressage if you have a TON of cash, a love of horses and a lot of Anti Monkey Butt Powder. [http://www.antimonkeybutt.com/](http://www.antimonkeybutt.com/) 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2008, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1512-days-to-master-an-olympic-sport-which-one/451817/51 "2008-06-06T00:32:43Z")
[QUOTE=Hello Again] “Many successful pentathletes were late developers in sport and started with humble abilities in only one of the five disciplines. Time and persistence are often superior to talent alone and modern pentathlon rewards those who are prepared to stick to a goal.” [http://www.pentathlon.org.au/info/criteria.php](http://www.pentathlon.org.au/info/criteria.php) [/QUOTE] But note that your quote is from a site whose aim is to increase MP participation in Australia - a much broader goal than training Olympic medalists (of which it appears Australia has never produced any). Thus “successful” does not here equate to “Olympic.” Again, though I don’t know for sure I’m going to guess that the number of humans over 50 that have won an Olympic medal in MP - or any other sport - after just a few years of training is close to zero. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2008, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1512-days-to-master-an-olympic-sport-which-one/451817/52 "2008-06-06T00:56:03Z")
[QUOTE=Telemark] [QUOTE=Dewey Finn] Can you name one? Because according to Wikipedia, a sport has to be played in 35 countries to be considered for competition by women and 50 countries for competition by men. [/QUOTE] Only new sports, many old ones are grandfathered in. [/QUOTE] Can you name one? I’ve been looking at the Wikipedia [list](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympic_sports#Current_program) of Olympic sports, and I don’t see anything very obscure, although BMX biking might qualify, and nothing that appears to be grandfathered in. If they were going to grandfather anything, surely it would be croquet or tug-of-war, but they managed to eliminate both of those. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2008, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1512-days-to-master-an-olympic-sport-which-one/451817/53 "2008-06-06T01:44:29Z")
[QUOTE=Alive At Both Ends] I think the only chance would be to disable yourself in some way and try for a Paralympic medal. There’s less competition. [/QUOTE] Or you could take an IQ text, deliberately botch the answers, and go for the Special Olympics. Seriously, if the OP is willing to wait for the Winter Games, there’s the chance at getting a curling medal. Still, Olympic curlers aren’t the fat guys seen on Canadian television on Saturday afternoons; they’re usually young and quite athletic themselves, and many have been sliding granite since they were in kindergarten. You could try to change your citizenship to that of a country where there are curling facilities, but the number of active curlers is in the low hundreds or even tens; Australia, Israel, South Africa, and so on. ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2008, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1512-days-to-master-an-olympic-sport-which-one/451817/54 "2008-06-06T01:58:10Z")
If the OP was quite small perhaps he could be a coxwain for a rowing team. AFAIK being a cox doesn’t require much physical aptitude (other than saying “stroke”). Obviously it requires rowing know-how, but that could probably be picked up in 5 years. The oldest medalist was 72 (shooting) > **[Yahoo | Mail, Weather, Search, Politics, News, Finance, Sports & Videos](https://www.yahoo.com/)** > > Latest news coverage, email, free stock quotes, live scores and video are just the beginning. Discover more every day at Yahoo! Brian ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2008, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1512-days-to-master-an-olympic-sport-which-one/451817/55 "2008-06-06T03:03:05Z")
[QUOTE=Dewey Finn] Can you name one? [/QUOTE] The two that I thought of were Team Handball and Field Hockey. Maybe they’re played in enough places, but at one time they were few nations that competed. ---
**Author:** ![fisha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@fisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fisha)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2008, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1512-days-to-master-an-olympic-sport-which-one/451817/56 "2008-06-06T03:05:25Z")
I have a guy working for me who is training for the winter Olympics. He’s ranked 17th ( I think) in the world for his particular sport, which happens to be one of the more crazy ones, and number 3 or 4 for the US team. He has some good experience and training. He’s early 20’s, in great shape, very intelligent, and has one of those determined personalities. Good guy, good employee. I’ll end up sponsoring him at some point, I am sure. But how frickin’ cool is that? ---
**Author:** ![TheBoltEater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/779978/32.png) [@TheBoltEater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheBoltEater)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2008, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1512-days-to-master-an-olympic-sport-which-one/451817/57 "2008-06-06T04:41:12Z")
Someone a couple posts up beat me to it, but I would also guess that your best - and perhaps only - chance would be as a coxswain. You don’t have to row, you just have to be light and have a voice that can carry a good twenty feet or so. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2008, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1512-days-to-master-an-olympic-sport-which-one/451817/58 "2008-06-06T04:45:36Z")
I’ve had several friends go to the winter and summer Olympics, one even won a silver. In many ways they are like all of the rest of us. But put them in their specialty and they just go to a different level. It’s scary how much better they are then us amateurs. When skiing, jumping, paddling with the rest of us they make it look effortless. ---
**Author:** ![Bootis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e8c25b/32.png) [@Bootis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bootis)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2008, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1512-days-to-master-an-olympic-sport-which-one/451817/59 "2008-06-06T07:04:31Z")
I still think that anyone who spent 10 hours a day, every day, for 4 years, practicing shooting, they would be an olympic caliber shooter. I dont think the question then is really, can a middle ager win a medal if they started training now, but can he dedicate himself so entirely to that purpose for 4 years. If you can, then that would make you a)more dedicated than the average shooting olympian, and therefore b) certainly capable of winning a medal. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2008, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1512-days-to-master-an-olympic-sport-which-one/451817/60 "2008-06-06T17:51:54Z")
[QUOTE=Bootis] I dont think the question then is really, can a middle ager win a medal if they started training now, but can he dedicate himself so entirely to that purpose for 4 years. If you can, then that would make you a)more dedicated than the average shooting olympian, and therefore b) certainly capable of winning a medal. [/QUOTE] So your thesis is that talent and aptitude have little to do with skill - all that really matters is practice (and presumably coaching). It’s possible, but IMO unlikely. I used to be a fairly serious about pistol competition, and it was common to meet dedicated, long-time participants who had “plateaued” - they weren’t all that great, and never got better despite their (in some cases extensive) practice. My experience in other forms of competition bears this out - practice is important, but has only a limited ability to make up for a lack of talent. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1512-days-to-master-an-olympic-sport-which-one/451817.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1512-days-to-master-an-olympic-sport-which-one/451817.md?page=4)