# Animals in the Olympics **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [October 23, 2012, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-in-the-olympics/638646 "2012-10-23T18:22:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![StarvingButStrong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/starvingbutstrong/32/335_2.png) [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-in-the-olympics/638646/1 "2012-10-23T18:22:19Z")
Just a stray topic that came up over dinner: if you _could_ have animals on your Olympic team, which animals would work best for each sport? Dolphins for the Water Polo team is a given. And probably all the other swimming events. Cheetahs for the 100 yard dash. Wolves for the Marathon. Gorillas for the weightlifting events, though another person thought elephants would beat them, assuming the rules are really strict on using hands on the bar. Orangutans for high bar gymnastics. Any non-flightless bird would made long/high jump contest risible. (Let’s ignore difficulties with getting the point of the sport over to the animal, and details like the contestants choosing to eat their human opponents…) ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-in-the-olympics/638646/2 "2012-10-23T19:20:40Z")
Gibbons for the uneven bars. ---
**Author:** ![Donnerwetter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Donnerwetter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donnerwetter)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2012, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-in-the-olympics/638646/3 "2012-10-29T12:24:55Z")
grizzly bear: wrestling kangaroo: long jump and triple jump ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2012, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-in-the-olympics/638646/4 "2012-10-29T12:48:19Z")
> [@StarvingButStrong](#): > > Wolves for the Marathon. Pronghorns would probably leave them in the dust. [This site](http://discovermagazine.com/1992/dec/thepronghornspro172) says: > [@](#): > > … the pronghorn is an endurance runner par excellence. Herds of pronghorn galloping across the high prairies of Wyoming can average 40 miles an hour for half an hour or more. If pronghorn ran marathons, they would complete the course in 40 minutes. Various Googling suggests wolves top out around 35-40 mph, which they can maintain for only a limited time. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2012, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-in-the-olympics/638646/5 "2012-10-29T14:03:36Z")
I think we did this topic not too long ago… [Cmon Hamsters…] Can’t find it in the Game Room-know we did it tho. ---
**Author:** ![Donnerwetter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Donnerwetter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donnerwetter)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2012, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-in-the-olympics/638646/6 "2012-10-29T14:40:20Z")
An elephant as goalie in hockey (Winter Olympics). ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2012, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-in-the-olympics/638646/7 "2012-10-29T14:45:46Z")
A marathon with seeing-eye dogs? Wait, I think I’ve missed the point of this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2012, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-in-the-olympics/638646/8 "2012-10-29T14:47:09Z")
Horses for something . . . ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2012, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-in-the-olympics/638646/9 "2012-10-29T15:02:55Z")
Fleas for the high jump. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2012, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-in-the-olympics/638646/10 "2012-10-29T15:14:32Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > I think we did this topic not too long ago… > > [Cmon Hamsters…] > > Can’t find it in the Game Room-know we did it tho. [Here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=660621) you go – GQ rather than Game Room, but you can’t have everything. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2012, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-in-the-olympics/638646/11 "2012-10-29T16:24:38Z")
Monkeys for the equestrian sports. Probably wouldn’t confer any advantage, but it would make the Olympics worth watching! ---
**Author:** ![Donnerwetter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Donnerwetter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donnerwetter)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2012, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-in-the-olympics/638646/12 "2012-10-29T20:44:27Z")
Butterflys and bees in boxing (Muhammad Ali famously said about his fighting style: _float like a butterfly, sting like a bee_) ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2012, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-in-the-olympics/638646/13 "2012-10-29T21:09:57Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > Horses for something . . . I tried playing water polo but my horse drowned. Thank you, I’ll be here all week. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2012, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-in-the-olympics/638646/14 "2012-10-29T21:42:27Z")
> [@StarvingButStrong](#): > > Dolphins for the Water Polo team is a given. And probably all the other swimming events. Googling, it appears that [sailfish](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sailfish) are the fastest swimming animals, not dolphins. So for any event requiring speed above all else, it’s sailfish that you’d want. They jump well too. > [@](#): > > Individuals have been clocked at speeds of up to 110 kilometres per hour (68 mph), which is the highest speed reliably reported in any water creature. > > \ > > Sailfish are highly prized game fish and are known for their incredible jumps and great speed. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2012, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-in-the-olympics/638646/15 "2012-10-29T22:19:33Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Googling, it appears that [sailfish](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sailfish) are the fastest swimming animals, not dolphins. So for any event requiring speed above all else, it’s sailfish that you’d want. They jump well too. And then we could introduce some new swimming events: Next up, the 500 meter freestyle hurdles! ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2012, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-in-the-olympics/638646/16 "2012-10-30T01:09:44Z")
Fleas are terrible high-jumpers. They jump many times their height, but that’s just because their height is tiny: Jumping height doesn’t actually scale with the size of an animal. And if nothing else, equestrian monkeys would have the advantage of being much lighter than human jockeys. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2012, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-in-the-olympics/638646/17 "2012-10-30T01:25:00Z")
> [@StarvingButStrong](#): > > Wolves for the Marathon. A human marathon runner would very certainly beat any canine on the planet. Humans’ most impressive physical trait is endurance. A human can run most animals into the ground. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2012, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-in-the-olympics/638646/18 "2012-10-30T01:27:40Z")
Unless the wolf goes for the human’s Achilles just as the race starts. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2012, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-in-the-olympics/638646/19 "2012-10-30T02:30:16Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Googling, it appears that [sailfish](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sailfish) are the fastest swimming animals, not dolphins. So for any event requiring speed above all else, it’s sailfish that you’d want. How fast can a bird wing itself – freestyle, you understand – from Point A to Point B while its talons scrape the surface of the water?