# Some Olympic questions... **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [July 29, 2012, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-olympic-questions/629797 "2012-07-29T21:33:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2012, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-olympic-questions/629797/41 "2012-07-31T21:13:14Z")
Another thing I was wondering: What’s the weirdest combination of sports that a person has medaled in? For example, has anyone ever won a medal in Track and Field and Swimming? What about Judo and Skeet Shooting? I imagine body types differ enough to make it almost impossible for a weightlifter to medal in gymnastics, but some sports aren’t as athletic and you can be doing it for a decade after you’re past your typical athletic prime. Maybe someone can be a great diver when they’re young and become a great archer when they’re older? ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2012, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-olympic-questions/629797/42 "2012-07-31T21:21:57Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > Another thing I was wondering: > > What’s the weirdest combination of sports that a person has medaled in? For example, has anyone ever won a medal in Track and Field and Swimming? What about Judo and Skeet Shooting? I imagine body types differ enough to make it almost impossible for a weightlifter to medal in gymnastics, but some sports aren’t as athletic and you can be doing it for a decade after you’re past your typical athletic prime. Maybe someone can be a great diver when they’re young and become a great archer when they’re older? Here’s a list of athletes with medals in different disciplines: [link](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_multiple_Olympic_medalists#Athletes_with_medals_in_different_disciplines). You can decide for yourself what constitutes “weirdest”. ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2012, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-olympic-questions/629797/43 "2012-07-31T21:28:14Z")
I’d say sailing / ski-jumping though boxing / bobsleigh and gymnasics/ wrestling are interesting also Brian ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2012, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-olympic-questions/629797/44 "2012-08-01T01:00:09Z")
> [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](#): > > I remember hearing that water polo players were not allowed to touch the floor for any reason. this is correct, they can not touch the bottom, or push off it. ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2012, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-olympic-questions/629797/45 "2012-08-01T02:08:53Z")
I’ve noticed several times that a coach will hover near a gymnast doing a routine on the bars, presumably to catch him/her in the event of a fall. I have never noticed that before this Olympics. Is it new, or long-standing and I just have not noticed before? I do find it off-putting - it certainly does not inspire confidence that the gymnast is in control. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2012, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-olympic-questions/629797/46 "2012-08-01T02:28:20Z")
> [@amarone](#): > > Is it new, or long-standing and I just have not noticed before? It’s always been there, you just haven’t noticed it before. ---
**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 1, 2012, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-olympic-questions/629797/47 "2012-08-01T14:44:50Z")
I saw the earlier explanations on what the swimming judges are looking for. Why the restrictions on how long a swimmer can stay underwater? I understand that for the 3 non-Freestyle strokes, there need to be restrictions in what a swimmer can do. But why limit the freestyle races? Doesn’t “freestyle” imply that one can use any means necessary to achieve the fastest times? ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2012, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-olympic-questions/629797/48 "2012-08-01T15:16:37Z")
> [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](#): > > I saw the earlier explanations on what the swimming judges are looking for. Why the restrictions on how long a swimmer can stay underwater? I understand that for the 3 non-Freestyle strokes, there need to be restrictions in what a swimmer can do. But why limit the freestyle races? Doesn’t “freestyle” imply that one can use any means necessary to achieve the fastest times? The underwater dolphin kick is very efficient. I seem to remember that before they created the rule on how long you could swim underwater people were going half the length of the pool or more. But why this doesn’t count as a “freestyle” method I’m not sure. Maybe it was considered dangerous to allow people to hold their breath in this manner. And this question was way up the thread, but the TV coverage of the men’s cycling road race caught riders peeing on a section of the course that didn’t have many spectators (there weren’t many of those), it was before the Box Hill laps began. The announcer even mentioned that you can get fined if you relieve yourself near spectators. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2012, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-olympic-questions/629797/49 "2012-08-01T15:34:12Z")
> [@fiddlesticks](#): > > The underwater dolphin kick is very efficient. I seem to remember that before they created the rule on how long you could swim underwater people were going half the length of the pool or more. But why this doesn’t count as a “freestyle” method I’m not sure. Maybe it was considered dangerous to allow people to hold their breath in this manner. I thought I read once, years ago, that the rule came about because one guy dove into the pool and spent pretty much the length of it underwater. They made it so that you had to come up by a certain point because of him. ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2012, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-olympic-questions/629797/50 "2012-08-01T15:35:41Z")
> [@fiddlesticks](#): > > The underwater dolphin kick is very efficient. I seem to remember that before they created the rule on how long you could swim underwater people were going half the length of the pool or more. But why this doesn’t count as a “freestyle” method I’m not sure. Maybe it was considered dangerous to allow people to hold their breath in this manner. [This](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxrYJf48s-4) is why. Swimming underwater is much more efficient then on top of. You can go as far as you like in breast, except you only get a kick, pull and a kick before you have to come up. ---
**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 1, 2012, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-olympic-questions/629797/51 "2012-08-01T18:56:16Z")
> [@Edward\_The\_Head](#): > > [This](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxrYJf48s-4) is why. Swimming underwater is much more efficient then on top of. You can go as far as you like in breast, except you only get a kick, pull and a kick before you have to come up. Got it, although I can’t figure out why the guy did that if he was going to get DQ’ed. ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2012, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-olympic-questions/629797/52 "2012-08-01T19:34:55Z")
> [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](#): > > Got it, although I can’t figure out why the guy did that if he was going to get DQ’ed. For fun I guess. He might have already false started but was still allowed to race. ---
**Author:** ![dzeiger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/46a35a/32.png) [@dzeiger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dzeiger)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2012, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-olympic-questions/629797/53 "2012-08-01T19:36:14Z")
So does anyone know why Water Polo became such a big sport in Central/Southern Europe? The Wikipedia page mentions it was invented in the UK, so how did it become the sport where Montenegro vs Hungary for a gold medal would not be a particularly shocking event? ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2012, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-olympic-questions/629797/54 "2012-08-01T23:31:52Z")
> [@dzeiger](#): > > So does anyone know why Water Polo became such a big sport in Central/Southern Europe? The Wikipedia page mentions it was invented in the UK, so how did it become the sport where Montenegro vs Hungary for a gold medal would not be a particularly shocking event? So they could beat the crap out of each other and not have anyone notice? ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2012, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-olympic-questions/629797/55 "2012-08-02T21:36:32Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > In qualifying for the individual event competition, gynmasts compete against not only other countries but their own team members. Are teams absolutely forced to send someone with a higher score to the individual round? By the IOC rules or the international gymnastics organization rules, for the All Around competition, each individual competitor is trying to get to the finals. However, the teams are limited to the number of their competitors they can send, so they are required to send their two top placers. If someone has to forfeit because of injury, then a team is allowed to send their next best qualifier as the second person. This is standard in sports sending more than one competitor, like swimming. It has been mentioned that not all team organizations are honest or care about their competitors, and so it has been gamed before. The incident you mention is garnering attention because, even though she had a bad day and scored worse than her two teammates, she still scored in the top 5 competitors that day. This event is stirring scrutiny of the rule. > [@YogSosoth](#): > > How much control does a host city get with things like the Opening and Closing Ceremonies and event stadiums? Britain this year chose 7 “final” torchbearers, did they have to get clearance for that first? What if they wanted to change the marathon and make it all uphill, could they pick a path like that? Or if they wanted to do basketball outdoors? Its not unprecedented, I remember decades ago the 10 meter platform diving was held outdoors so it doesn’t seem like there’s a rule against it As mentioned, the IOC has rules about the form and behavior for holding Olympics. They evaluate the bids by the potential host countries to select where they will be held. They provide the guidelines that must be met. I don’t know how much the IOC vets things like the ceremonies and such. Each of the international sports has its own governing body that defines the requirements for the sports venues, so the host countries must operate within those rules for each event. The marathon organization will oversee rules over what a marathon course must contain as far as hills, turns, etc. If it allows for 26 mile uphill races, then the host country can plan it such. These things are planned out very far in advance. One of the reasons Houston was chosen for the US marathon trials was because their course was similar to the one for London. The only way that comment could be made is if the London course was known far in advance, so it could be copied in Houston. (I don’t know how exact that means.) > [@Ponch8](#): > > How do referees/officials communicate with the athletes? Odds are they come from different countries with different languages. Is everyone expected to know English or some other common language? The IOC has defined English and French as official languages. I recall past Olympics where everything had to be announced in both languages. I would imagine that referees must be conversant in at least one of those languages. Then they have translators for everything else, or the team must provide a translator. > [@notfrommensa](#): > > Watching the Mens Gymnastics, why do they wear pants for some events and shorts for others (Floor and Vault). As stated, pants give a more straight line for events that don’t involve legs, like pommel horse and still rings, where the legs are judged on being straight and extended. Pants enhance that look. But pants get in the way of tumbling and such, so shorts are worn for vault and floor. Except we did see an example of pants getting in the way on Pommel horse. Oops. > [@YogSosoth](#): > > And speaking of that nonsense, everyone, I mean EVERYONE could see that the Japanese guy pretty much fell off the pommel horse. How can they award him points for that?? That is where it’s in the fuzzy for me. I don’t know enough about the rules to know what qualifies as a “dismount”. Apparently, after last night, we were informed there’s some sort of rule about having to make a full circle before going to the handstand for the dismount to count. I _think_ he means they have to swing their legs in a full circle around the horse before going to the handstand. Also, there’s a rule that the dismount must continue in an upward motion, and not come down and then resume upwards. What happened with the Japanese guy was he fell off balance before getting his legs fully extended upwards, and his arms collapsed. It did not appear that he ever got to what I would consider a handstand. However, he did get the circle with his legs prior to making the attempt. So it may be a case of he doesn’t get points for doing the handstand and gets deductions for the quality of the dismount, but he does get points for doing a dismount. And the contention was that first he was judged to not have done a dismount at all. But that’s just my wild speculation based upon those events and the events of the all-around finals. > [@](#): > > I’m just going to ask this next question straight up. I think that the general consensus is that men’s and women’s gymnastics events are different due to differences in upper body strength. No rings and parallel bars for women, for instance. Yes, the difference in gymnastics is largely based upon sexual differences between men and women. Historically, women’s gymnastics was performed by actual women, not teenagers, and the events were more about grace and balance and dance. Whereas men’s performance is based upon strength, then control and then balance. You can see this evident in the way floor exercise is performed. Both competitions now have lots of tumbling runs and bouncing around, but women’s floor is set to music and has required dance elements, but men’s does not. It has strength displays with handstands and the … what do you call the moves like on pommel horse but without pommels and a horse? They use their arms on the floor and swirl their legs around in the air. The change was when the Karolyi’s transformed women’s gymnastics with Nadia Komenici and her team, where teenagers came in. They started doing more tumbling and stuff like the men. > [@](#): > > But the balance beam, is it not a men’s event because of balls? As in, “oh crap that guy just landed on his balls omg there’s blood everywhere”? No, men’s gymnastics is about strength displays, especially upper body strength. Women’s gymnastics was traditionally about balance and grace. Thus the different sports apparatuses. > [@amarone](#): > > I’ve noticed several times that a coach will hover near a gymnast doing a routine on the bars, presumably to catch him/her in the event of a fall. I have never noticed that before this Olympics. Is it new, or long-standing and I just have not noticed before? It’s common and you’ve just not noticed before. My observation is the few times I’ve seen someone in place and the gymnast miss, the person didn’t react fast enough to do any good. The gymnast still hit the floor pretty hard. Noticed this from Nastia Liuken during team tryouts. > [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](#): > > But why limit the freestyle races? Doesn’t “freestyle” imply that one can use any means necessary to achieve the fastest times? I’m under the impression that “freestyle” does not mean “any way you want to”, but rather is an actual defined style of arms over the top, and has as much training in form as the other styles. Okay, here’s my Olympics question. In gymnastics this year, there is a color coding system that is being displayed, based upon the number of deductions the gymnast receives, i.e. deductions less than 1.2 get green, etc. However, I am unclear on who is assigning these color codes. Is this something the gymnastics federation has instituted? Or is this just an NBC thing? I can not find any official sources for this online. My google fu is weak. ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2012, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-olympic-questions/629797/56 "2012-08-02T21:47:54Z")
I’m almost positive the color for Gymnastics scores is an NBC thing - it reflects how many deductions the athelte got / NBC’s guess as to if it get them past qualifications / get them a mdedal. brian ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2012, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-olympic-questions/629797/57 "2012-08-02T21:52:51Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > Is this something the gymnastics federation has instituted? Or is this just an NBC thing? I’m pretty sure it’s just an NBC thing. ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2012, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-olympic-questions/629797/58 "2012-08-02T22:23:08Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > I’m under the impression that “freestyle” does not mean “any way you want to”, but rather is an actual defined style of arms over the top, and has as much training in form as the other styles. Freestyle really is any stroke you want (except in medleys, where it can’t be butterfly, backstroke, or breaststroke). However, as the front crawl is pretty much always the fastest stroke, that’s the one people go with. There are regulations regarding turns and such, but the stroke itself is up to the swimmer. ETA: Here’s FINA’s (the international swimming federation) rules on freestyle: > [@FINA](#): > > SW 5.1 Freestyle means that in an event so designated the swimmer may swim any style, except that in individual medley or medley relay events, freestyle means any style other than backstroke, breaststroke or butterfly. > > SW 5.2 Some part of the swimmer must touch the wall upon completion of each length and at the finish. > > SW 5.3 Some part of the swimmer must break the surface of the water throughout the race, except it shall be permissible for the swimmer to be completely submerged during the turn and for a distance of not more than 15 metres after the start and each turn. By that point, the head must have broken the surface. ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-olympic-questions/629797/59 "2012-08-03T00:54:37Z")
> [@fachverwirrt](#): > > Freestyle really is any stroke you want Which is why it’s called “freestyle”. You’re “free” to use any “style” you want. Otherwise, it would be called the (Australian Crawl). Feel free to use the breaststroke (or whatever) in that event (but don’t expect to win). ---
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-olympic-questions/629797/60 "2012-08-03T02:16:30Z")
I’m watching the women’s gymnastics all-around, and before one of the Russian gymnasts did her bar routine, she was using a spray bottle near the apparatus. It looked to me like she was spritzing the air rather than the bars themselves, but I couldn’t really tell. Anybody know what that was all about? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-olympic-questions/629797.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-olympic-questions/629797.md?page=4)