# Most difficult Olympic sport **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [August 12, 2016, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-difficult-olympic-sport/762621 "2016-08-12T23:13:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2016, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-difficult-olympic-sport/762621/1 "2016-08-12T23:13:11Z")
I’m talking about the sport that the average athlete would be absolutely the worst at performing. While I’m not world class by any stretch, I can sprint 100 meters, dribble and shoot a basketball, dive into a pool, can presumably shoot a rifle (never tried), etc. But there is not a single gymnastics move that I could possibly do. I don’t even think I can walk across a balance beam without falling off. So I nominate Gymnastics as the most difficult Olympic sport. Any other contenders? ---
**Author:** ![Laggard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de053/32.png) [@Laggard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laggard)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2016, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-difficult-olympic-sport/762621/2 "2016-08-13T03:23:13Z")
Most of us over a week couldn’t complete the men’s road race course. So there’s difficult physically and technically difficult. I also suspect that some sports are much more difficult than they appear. It’s doubtful you’d last two seconds against even an amateur judoist (what are they called? I also think that with a weeks skilled training you could be taught to do some rudimentary vault or balance beam routine. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2016, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-difficult-olympic-sport/762621/3 "2016-08-13T03:27:49Z")
> [@Laggard](#): > > It’s doubtful you’d last two seconds against even an amateur judoist (what are they called?. Judoka, formally, although it might be an uncommon word these days. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2016, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-difficult-olympic-sport/762621/4 "2016-08-13T03:47:19Z")
> [@Laggard](#): > > Most of us over a week couldn’t complete the men’s road race course. Cycling? I’ve done 200 miles in a weekend a few times. The road race is about 150, I think; might be able to do that in a day, if I could get up the hills. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_jeffrey_lebowski/32/215_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Jeffrey_Lebowski)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2016, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-difficult-olympic-sport/762621/5 "2016-08-13T04:10:50Z")
For Track and Field, I nominate the Pole Vault, though the Decathlon deserves mention. For Gymnastics, I would say the Rings or the Uneven Bars. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2016, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-difficult-olympic-sport/762621/6 "2016-08-13T12:37:28Z")
Synchronized diving. Followup: Why is that an Olympic sport? ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2016, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-difficult-olympic-sport/762621/7 "2016-08-13T12:47:26Z")
All the gymnastics stuff is hard, but the rings and pommel horse are unbelievably difficult. ---
**Author:** ![Teuton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teuton/32/3864_2.png) [@Teuton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teuton)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2016, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-difficult-olympic-sport/762621/8 "2016-08-13T12:56:26Z")
That horse dancing stuff. Not actually difficult to perform on the day, perhaps, but you have to train the horse, and I wouldn’t know where to start.