# Kiteboarding to replace windsurfing at 2016 Rio Olympics

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kiteboarding-to-replace-windsurfing-at-2016-rio-olympics/621212>\
**Category:** The Game Room\
**Created:** [May 7, 2012, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kiteboarding-to-replace-windsurfing-at-2016-rio-olympics/621212 "2012-05-07T19:30:24Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Dahu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dahu/32/3416_2.png) [@Dahu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dahu)\
**Post date:** [May 7, 2012, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kiteboarding-to-replace-windsurfing-at-2016-rio-olympics/621212/1 "2012-05-07T19:30:24Z")

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> **[Kiteboarding to make Olympics bow](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/olympics/17980607)**
>
> Kiteboarding will make its Olympic debut at the 2016 Games in Rio after windsurfing is dropped.

My first thought is wtf?

I didn’t even realise kiteboarding was a competitive sport. Can anyone tell me how this works - do they race against each other, or is this one of those “sports” that is judged on tricks/jumps etc?

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**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\
**Post date:** [May 7, 2012, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kiteboarding-to-replace-windsurfing-at-2016-rio-olympics/621212/2 "2012-05-07T19:37:16Z")

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One more example of the watering down of the Olympic Games?

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**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:** [May 7, 2012, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kiteboarding-to-replace-windsurfing-at-2016-rio-olympics/621212/3 "2012-05-07T23:16:10Z")

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There have always been a ton of Olympic sports that nobody ever pays any significant attention to. If they’d replaced the marathon or the shot-put or the like, _that_ would be a sign of watering-down.

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**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\
**Post date:** [May 8, 2012, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kiteboarding-to-replace-windsurfing-at-2016-rio-olympics/621212/4 "2012-05-08T00:01:29Z")

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Well yes, there’s that. And that those are both, um, aquatic sports. Haha…hm. Err. Yeahanyway.

I think the summer Olympics should be largely reduced to sports that directly correlate with combat. Or replaced with actual combat. Whatever.

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**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\
**Post date:** [May 8, 2012, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kiteboarding-to-replace-windsurfing-at-2016-rio-olympics/621212/5 "2012-05-08T14:34:07Z")

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Still better than ballroom dancing.

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**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\
**Post date:** [May 8, 2012, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kiteboarding-to-replace-windsurfing-at-2016-rio-olympics/621212/6 "2012-05-08T15:14:03Z")

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My first thought when I read that was “Windsurfing is an Olympic sport?”