yes – the rules for the Olympics are set by a small group of very old, very conservative men. (And apparently rather bribe-able, too, based on recent scandals.)
speaking in vast generalities (which of course are never true on an individual level) men seem to enjoy doing repetitive physical activities that bore women to death. My brother could spend hours running up and down and shooting a basketball; after I shot one successfully I was done and wanted to move on. Same with juggling-anyone can learn to juggle, but first you have to spend three weeks doing the same thing over and over. Very few women jugglers out there. I suspect the same thing happens with darts and lots of other physical activities. The practice required to get good is fun for men and incredibly boring for women. I classify video games in this category as well.
Except for that there are plenty of female darts players: ladies’ pub teams are almost as common as men’s pub teams and there’s a similar structure of county teams above the level of pub league. The fact there are more male players at all levels certainly must be a factor, but by itself it seems unlikely to explain whilst the female players top out with 3-dart averages over a couple of years of 80, whilst the men top out at a little over 100.
It could be that the men are simply larger wrt darts. You shoot from the same toe line but my 6’6" Dad always had an advantage over my 5’7" Mom in that when the dart left his hand, it had much less distance to cover. You may argue that a few inches wouldn’t make a difference, but shoot a dart, move back six inches and see if you can hit the same spot.
I think height is an advantage, though I’d think you’d probably find 6’0" is about optimal height. But again it isn’t so huge an advantage either - the best darts player ever is only about 5’7".
That is very true. There was a video going around several months back with the actor who plays The Mountain in Game of Thrones doing some gentle sparring with Conor McGregor. The difference in size means that should they have a real street fight, Conor would most likely lose. He’s a world class MMA fighter, but the other guy has the same height, weight and strength advantage as an ordinary 6ft man has over a 5ft woman. It’s too much of a gap to bridge.
I remember the discussion of Andy Murray taking on Serena Williams in an exhibition match - but both players dismissed the idea as lunacy, as it would be such a gulf in class, Serena would barely win a point, let alone provide competition. And this is a woman who has such a physical advantage over the rest of the women’s tour, she’s dominated for 15 years.
I’m struggling to think of any sport that doesn’t use machinery/animals as a primary component that men and women could ever get close with.
I suppose, a particularly strong/tall woman could compete with men at golf… as you’re playing the course, not the person, but she would need to be able to hit a comparable distance as the average male golfer to stand any chance.
Snooker/Pool could work… but again, it’s a mental skill/sport and requires no physical attributes to succeed, so that’s out.
Nope, no way. The very best women golfers can’t compete with men golfers who can’t even get on the pro tour. Pro women golfers averaged 250 yards off the tee, while pro men averaged 290 yards, according to one study I found on the web. Not only can men hit farther, golf courses are set up harder for male pros than female ones. I think the Serena equation applies to golf - even a woman who dominates in the LPGA will not fare well in the PGA.
Female pro Annika Sorrenstam dominated the women’s game in the early 2000s and entered a PGA tournament. She failed to make the cut, and was so discouraged she never tried again. Michelle Wie made the cut only one time in 13 attempts.
The disparity is similar on the amateur level. Sure, there are good female golfers, but they aren’t even close to similar club-level male golfers.
As a further illustration of this phenomenon, consider that there have been a fair number of women who were quite successful in rallying where the route is constantly changing whereas in circuit racing you are going over the same ground again and again. But then again who are the knitters? A truly mind numbing pastime!
