The school figures started being phased out big time after the 1968 Olympics, when Beatrix Schuba, a competent long-program skater but a GOAT when it came to cutting school figures, won the gold medal, even though Janet Lynn (Nowicki) skated a much better long program, and that’s what people actually saw.
My random Winter Olympics question is this: Who thinks up some of these extreme sports, anyway? Some of these have gone beyond X-Games territory IMNSHO. Where do they find enough participants in some of these to make them Olympic events, anyway?
p.s. I’ve always loved watching the luge. I honestly think it looks really fun, although if I got on one of those cafeteria trays with runners, I’d be tempted to dig my heels into the ice.
Right. School figures demonstrate precision, care, hours of practice, and mastery of one’s skates—and they are difficult to explain to non-skaters, impossible to bring the up-close views that the judges see to the TV audience, and as dull as dishwater to watch.
I remember having to do them when I skated. Nobody liked them, not the skaters nor the coaches. We only did them because they were necessary. I left skating before they were finally tossed, but I do remember having to practice them over and over.
How about all the horses used in the equestrian events during the summer, or the sailboats for that matter? They get shipped there, one way or another.
As for the shooters and archers, folks, correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m guessing that the bows and/or bullets may not be the type designed for hunting purposes, and therefore might require less in the way of permission.
Former competitive rifle shooter here. (And I went farther with rifle than I did with skating.)
Yes, both my ammo and my rifle were most definitely not designed for hunting. I had a single-shot, .22LR, bolt action Anschutz 1813 with iron sights, and about all it was good for was punching holes in a sheet of paper at 50 meters. Ammo at that level of competition is extremely precisely made, and correspondingly expensive, and again, only good for punching holes in a sheet of paper.
I just remembered that one of my sister’s high school friends later married a man who was a gold-medal bobsledder. (He keeps a very low profile about this, but everyone who knows the family personally knows he did this in a past life.) IIRC, they had corporate sponsors that skirted the professional/amateur rules.
That’s kinda cool, I guess. But I was the GOAT when it came to cutting school. I would get dropped off, walk in the front door and then then straight out the back door. Every day, for weeks.
I was totally confused because I thought Peggy Fleming won in 1968. It looks like Schuba won her gold in 1972. That doesn’t change the controversy of course.
I assume it descended from the practice of old timey prospectors/merchants biting gold coins/nuggets to distinguish gold (which is soft enough to put a bite mark in) from fools gold/other metals (which would break your teeth first).
And then silver and bronze followed suit for the lulz.
It persists because it is good media and it’s expected these days. As mentioned, the origins goes back to testing pure gold for softness, but since gold medals haven’t been pure gold since 1912 that doesn’t track with the current trend.
People point to the 1991 GB 4x400 World Championship team as a starting point, and by the 1994 Olympics it was pretty common.
I suspect it also persists because it’s viscerally satisfying for the winner to feel the medal with their mouth. People tend to use their hands, which are specialized for manipulation. But the primary manipulative organ for most mammals is the mouth. And the mouth is an important sensory organ for mammals, too. Underneath it all, we are just fancy mammals. That’s why infants put everything in their mouth – to explore their world. On some level, that’s what the olympic winners are doing, too.
Basically, to become an Olympic event a sport must have official rules set up by a recognized authority, and it must be played by many people all around the world, at least for the summer games. What I see, and don’t hold me to the exact figures, is that a sport must be played in at least 75 countries and 4 continents for men, and 40 countries and 3 continents for women (for Summer Games). Winter sports have less requirements since so many countries don’t have snowy seasons, but I don’t know the details.
While World-Class Dart Champions have noticeably come to resemble The Pillsbury Doughboy (with really bad haircuts).
Random Hocky thought: With all the ties after what seems like hours of sheer boredom resulting in Sudden Death, why not just call the game after the first goal and save us all a lot of time?
Certainly she’s a perfect example of the phenomenon, but also Bruce Mouat and quite a few others in various teams I can’t precisely recall (but I can’t forget the eyes) - I think it must partly be the camera placement for the event and the fact that we’re watching a very brief, but intense moment of focus and concentration.
I was surprised to hear that Spain won only their 2nd ever Gold at the Winter Olympics. Upon checking, I see that they’ve only won 7 medals ever, including 2 at these games. I would think that being in Europe, with the Pyrenees to the north, the country would have more of a skiing and winter sport culture.
