# Most excruciatingly boring Olympic event? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 7, 2004, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-excruciatingly-boring-olympic-event/258738 "2004-08-07T04:55:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-excruciatingly-boring-olympic-event/258738/81 "2004-08-10T20:47:13Z")
> [@Ranchoth](#): > > How about events that are no longer in the Olympics, but used to be? > > They’ve had… > > •Croquet. (1900) (Boy, I wouldn’t feel like showing _that_ gold medal to the grandkids) > •Roque (1904)—A slightly different kind of Croquet. > •Rope climing (1896-1932) > •Limbo (1951)(Hermes Conrad thou shouldst’ve been alive at that hour) > •Stone throwing (1906)(Throwing a 14-lb rock. Really. That was it.) > •Twelve-Hour bicycle race. (1896)(The winner made 183.5 miles.) > •Golf (1900-1904) > > And…I haven’t been able to confirm this, but I heard a report that _checkers_ was an event at one of the early games. Like I said, I’m trying to get confirmation. > Ranchoth > (Though I have to admit, Dueling Pistols (1906) would have been interesting to watch.) Acording to David Wallechinsky’s books, checkers has never been an Olympic sport, and neither has Limbo (besides which, 1951 was not an Olympic year.) My least favorites? The usual suspects- dressage, gymnastics (in all forms), synchronized swimming/diving, and tennis. ---
**Author:** ![Den\_Mum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9adbd/32.png) [@Den\_Mum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Den_Mum)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-excruciatingly-boring-olympic-event/258738/82 "2004-08-11T00:14:54Z")
> [@Shirley Ujest](#): > > I would like to add that wrestling, in any form ( except the bedroom/foreplay event) is really really creepy to watch men ( and now women) wearing those spandex thingies and grunting around the floor like that. First, let me cast my tie vote for most boring Olympic events … goes to shooting (though I used to love to target shoot) and the ever popular (?) synchronized swimming! Yawn… Wrestling, now that is another story. Greco Roman is kind of boring I’ll admit but the other forms, nope…can’t agree with you on that one. My son wrestled in High School and it was a real learning experiance for him and for me. Of all the sports he participated in (Football, Wrestling & Track) it required the most conditioning and thought. The best wrestlers were also quick thinking kids. If they didn’t think about what they were doing they were on their back. ( pinned ) I learned to appreciate it as he continued to compete. The conditioning required was remarkable. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-excruciatingly-boring-olympic-event/258738/83 "2004-08-11T00:43:33Z")
I have never found anything to be _excruciatingly_ boring. Nothing. Not even watching paint dry. And they say that drugs are bad, 😉 ---
**Author:** ![bughunter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@bughunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bughunter)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-excruciatingly-boring-olympic-event/258738/84 "2004-08-11T01:17:58Z")
> [@Rayne Man](#): > > And what about the Female weight-lifters? In 2000, I was sitting in a Japanese Restaurant watching female olympic weighlifting coverage… not really watching, because it _is_ boring… but just paying half attention. When the female commentator said the following with respect to the athlete preparing to lift: “I saw her snatch this morning, and it was perfect.” :eek: \ I actually did a spit take with my Miso soup. ---
**Author:** ![Bottle\_of\_Smoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Bottle\_of\_Smoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bottle_of_Smoke)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-excruciatingly-boring-olympic-event/258738/85 "2004-08-11T02:06:22Z")
> [@Spavined Gelding](#): > > I have no idea what it is called, but there is a bicycle event where the point seems to be to go a slowly as you can until the last possible second (before what?) And then peddle like hell. It’s not that it’s boring, it is that it makes no sense and is therefore boring. That would be the Match Sprint. And yeah, it is kind of strange to see. The deal with Match Sprints is that the winner is the first rider to cross the finish line, and there is no time limit. So what you see are the two riders jockeying for position – you don’t want to be the guy in front while your opponent drafts you, so it’s kind of a dance to see who can avoid being drafted and can attack at just the right time to out-accelerate the other rider to the line. I think it’s got great tension and I like to watch it, but then I’m wierd that way.🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Only\_Mostly\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/f19dbf/32.png) [@Only\_Mostly\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Only_Mostly_Dead)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-excruciatingly-boring-olympic-event/258738/86 "2004-08-11T02:28:15Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > For just plain boring…small-bore target-shooting. Unbelievably hard event, but just not up there when it comes to viewer excitement. > [@roger thornhill](#): > > Kudos to shooting for being honest enough to include ‘bore’ in the name of their event. Though they only admit it’s a small bore. For the great bore, I’d have to agree with anybody who has said long-distance running or swimming. I can appreciate their athleticism (heck, I get winded after a quarter mile or so on the track, even pacing my out-of-shape butt), but it’s just not even the least bit compelling. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-excruciatingly-boring-olympic-event/258738/87 "2004-08-11T02:41:54Z")
> [@Lobsang](#): > > Strange. I’ve never seen that type of thing. That’s because NBC sucks and should be constitutionally banned from having coverage of any sporting event for the rest of time. Seriously, they tape-delayed the 2002 Olympics! They were in freaking Salt Lake City! Now, I can understand wanting to show some things later or again, but damn it, take the goddamn soaps and other daytime bullshit off and show the events live! Not to mention that their main coverage (broadcast) sucked. My roommate and I basically saw nothing but hockey and curling (mostly on CNBC) for the two whole weeks. And that was because there wasn’t anything else on. No pro hockey because of the Olympics. Neither of us like basketball, so I don’t know if the NBA was playing or not. Way too early for baseball, and most other television programming sucks anyway. Oh, and don’t get me started on 1998. When the weather conditions meant that they couldn’t show skiing, guess what they switched to. Figure skating PRACTICE SESSIONS! That’s right, not another sport (even if it would have been tape-delayed.) Figure skating PRACTICE SESSIONS! If the NFL is smart, they will never let NBC get television rights again, even if they did put in the highest bid. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-excruciatingly-boring-olympic-event/258738/88 "2004-08-11T06:10:44Z")
> [@asterion](#): > > My roommate and I basically saw nothing but hockey and curling (mostly on CNBC) for the two whole weeks. You say that like it’s a bad thing… :eek: The Beloved and I got up early, around 5 a.m., to watch the curling live from Nagano. The Sandra Schmirler team won the first women’s gold medal in curling. When we dragged our tired butts into work that morning, we found that most other people had done the same thing. R.I.P., Sandra. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![DKW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dkw/32/3118_2.png) [@DKW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DKW)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-excruciatingly-boring-olympic-event/258738/89 "2004-08-11T08:11:47Z")
[My last post vanished for some reason…trying again.] Tedious: Greco-Roman wrestling. Two wrestlers of virually equal strength (this is the Olympics; the wimps don’t make it) shoving uselessly at each other because the rules won’t let them use anything that actually works…what could be better? I know, let’s have the ref blow his damn whistle every five seconds! Unwatchable: Boxing. All of it. I’d rather watch a shipwreck. It never ends without some catastrophic injustice. Never. Predictable: Figure skating. This one’s probably self-explanatory. I remember when Berezhnaya and Sikharlude won the gold medals that _maybe_ they didn’t deserve, and one of the judges was later revealed to be corrupt, and all I could think was, “NOW people are getting outraged over this?” Just don’t care anymore: Gymnastics. Oh, this guy got a 9.85 when he _clearly_ deserved a 9.9. And that coach used a _seldom invoked rule_ to knock us out of contention. Wait, the pommel horse didn’t conform to regulation, they should’ve cancelled the whole event and rescheduled. What the, he’s competing with a broken leg, is he out of his mind? Hey, they should’ve penalized her for that wiggle! Sure, whatever. ---
**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-excruciatingly-boring-olympic-event/258738/90 "2004-08-11T11:11:54Z")
But, DKW, you can always console yourself with the thought of Greg Louganis “winning” the platform diving ahead of the Chinese guy in Seoul. ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-excruciatingly-boring-olympic-event/258738/91 "2004-08-11T20:10:43Z")
Fencing is godawful. I wish they’d just keep going until one guy killed the other, then maybe there’d be something to watch. And no judging. Then there’s water polo. Sober people doing something that normal people do only when drunk. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-excruciatingly-boring-olympic-event/258738/92 "2004-08-11T23:54:02Z")
> [@Northern Piper](#): > > You say that like it’s a bad thing… :eek: > > The Beloved and I got up early, around 5 a.m., to watch the curling live from Nagano. The Sandra Schmirler team won the first women’s gold medal in curling. When we dragged our tired butts into work that morning, we found that most other people had done the same thing. > > R.I.P., Sandra. ☹ Oh _yeah_. These games are **international**. If precision figure skating is someone’s national sport, I’m sorry for what I said. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2004, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-excruciatingly-boring-olympic-event/258738/93 "2004-08-12T18:14:02Z")
Can they add dog agility trials to the Olympics? Especially the part where the dogs have to wiggle at light-speed around the closely set poles? Now THAT’s good television. Whose telegenic? Whose telegenic? Yes you are! Yes you are! Look at how you wiggle! Yes you can! Yes you can! ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2004, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-excruciatingly-boring-olympic-event/258738/94 "2004-08-12T18:43:51Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > Can they add dog agility trials to the Olympics? Especially the part where the dogs have to wiggle at light-speed around the closely set poles? Now THAT’s good television. Whose telegenic? Whose telegenic? Yes you are! Yes you are! Look at how you wiggle! Yes you can! Yes you can! That’s hilarious. After looking at the trainers for dog agility trials, I’ve concluded it’s the new lesbian sport. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2004, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-excruciatingly-boring-olympic-event/258738/95 "2004-08-12T18:45:13Z")
You know those times when you have an opinion which just seems so totally obvious and necessary and unquestionable that you can’t believe everyone doesn’t agree with you? Well, I feel that way about this. ALL RACES ARE BORING!!! That’s right. Running. Swimming. Boating. Driving. Biking. They’re all boring. Why? Because every single one of them is identical. Various people are moving. One is moving faster. At some point, one of them will get to the end line. The one who got there fastest will win. That’s it. That’s the whole thing. There are no great saves. There are no hail marys. There are no stolen bases, or amazing shots, or goal-line stands. Obviously if you follow that sport, care about individual competitors, etc., more power to you, but to someone who doesn’t, it’s precisely as interesting as watching Dot Racing. But to the rest of us, there’s more possibliity for excitement in a single point of a game of Table Tennis than in the 100 yard dash. The 100 yard dash is at least over quickly. SWIMMING, however, takes forever. And it’s ALWAYS IDENTICAL. Look at those two face-down bodies in the pool! One’s going faster! Oh my god, it’s over! Now, the next heat. Look at those two face-down bodies in the pool! One’s going faster! It’s over!!! Sheesh. I also will buck the trend in this thread by stating that I really enjoy watching both gymnastics and rhythmic gymnastics. I don’t care if the judging is arbitrary. It’s just damn entertaining and amazing to watch people do such totally mind-blowing things. It’s like going to the circus. What we need added as an olympic sport is juggling. That would rock. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2004, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-excruciatingly-boring-olympic-event/258738/96 "2004-08-12T19:36:51Z")
> [@amarinth](#): > > I cannot wait for ballroom dancing this year (though not even I can stretch the definition of sport that far.) Ballroom dancing has never been an Olympic event, and it won’t be an event this year either. Ed ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2004, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-excruciatingly-boring-olympic-event/258738/97 "2004-08-12T19:40:15Z")
> [@TeaElle](#): > > I > But the worst, IMO, is any sport in which professionals are somehow now permitted to be Olympians. Basketball, tennis, hockey in the winter, they’re all ruined, IMO. If I want to watch millionaires with three mansions playing sports, I wouldn’t be watching the Olympics. Actually, nowadays professionals are allowed in almost all Olympic sports. Last I read, the only sport that still required Olympic participants to be amateurs was boxing. Ed ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2004, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-excruciatingly-boring-olympic-event/258738/98 "2004-08-12T19:44:27Z")
> [@ianzin](#): > > Slight hijack… personally, I’ve always felt that there shouldn’t be anything in the Olympics that requires a ‘judge’ to tell who has won. I’m fine with anything where you can measure fastest, highest, furthest or most points, but if it comes down to a bunch of people all ‘judging’, it’s fairly arbitrary. Olympic boxing is notoriously ruined by ‘political’ judging, and even boxing fans are sick of how fixed it all is. A legendary BBC boxing commentator, Harry Carpenter, even referred to this during his live commentary, and how sickened he felt by all the obviously biased decisions. It must be really bad for a BBC guy to openly mention during a broadcast. There have been innumerable threads on this message board, as well as many others, asking the questions “Are judged sports really sports?” and “Should they be included in the Olympics?”. But the fact is that many of these sports, such as gymnastics, diving, and figure skating, are among the most popular events at the Olympics. So there’s no way they’ll be removed. Ed ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2004, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-excruciatingly-boring-olympic-event/258738/99 "2004-08-12T19:47:28Z")
> [@casdave](#): > > Is beach vollyeball in it this year ? Hope not. Yes, beach volleyball is in the Olympics this year. Ed ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2004, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-excruciatingly-boring-olympic-event/258738/100 "2004-08-12T19:49:54Z")
> [@Rayne Man](#): > > What the hell is \*\* solo synchronised swimming \*\* ? Who do you synchronise with if you are on your own ? The killer for me in this event is the false , painted-on smiles of the contestants. Solo synchronized swimming is no longer an Olympic event. Currently, the two synchronized swimming events are duet and team. Ed [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-excruciatingly-boring-olympic-event/258738.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-excruciatingly-boring-olympic-event/258738.md?page=6)