# What Olympic sports have more prestigious tournaments? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [May 21, 2013, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-olympic-sports-have-more-prestigious-tournaments/658952 "2013-05-21T18:42:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Animastryfe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Animastryfe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Animastryfe)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-olympic-sports-have-more-prestigious-tournaments/658952/1 "2013-05-21T18:42:06Z")
As the title states, what Olympic sports have other tournaments that are more prestigious than the Olympics? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-olympic-sports-have-more-prestigious-tournaments/658952/2 "2013-05-21T18:46:51Z")
Tennis, NBA. ---
**Author:** ![Animastryfe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Animastryfe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Animastryfe)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-olympic-sports-have-more-prestigious-tournaments/658952/3 "2013-05-21T18:49:02Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > Tennis, NBA. From a quick google search, the Grand Slam tournaments are the most prestigious tennis tournaments, correct? Are the four tournaments equally prestigious? ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-olympic-sports-have-more-prestigious-tournaments/658952/4 "2013-05-21T18:51:04Z")
Soccer, for sure. And even now, probably boxing. ---
**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:** [May 21, 2013, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-olympic-sports-have-more-prestigious-tournaments/658952/5 "2013-05-21T20:02:37Z")
Alpine Skiing - the World Cup title is typically considered more important than Olympic medals. ---
**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:** [May 21, 2013, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-olympic-sports-have-more-prestigious-tournaments/658952/6 "2013-05-21T20:06:19Z")
> [@Animastryfe](#): > > From a quick google search, the Grand Slam tournaments are the most prestigious tennis tournaments, correct? Are the four tournaments equally prestigious? They are different; Wimbledon is on grass, French is on clay, Australian and US are on hard courts. Clay is the most specialized surface and there is often a player who is a clay specialist. They can dominate there while not winning elsewhere. But they are all Majors and they are all prestigious. ---
**Author:** ![cmosdes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@cmosdes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmosdes)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-olympic-sports-have-more-prestigious-tournaments/658952/7 "2013-05-21T20:38:10Z")
Golf and possibly Marathon, although the latter is very likely highly debatable. Hockey I think the Stanley Cup is more prestigious. Ironman triathlon. In cycling the Tour de France seems to be the most prestigious race. ---
**Author:** ![Iggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iggy/32/3364_2.png) [@Iggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iggy)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-olympic-sports-have-more-prestigious-tournaments/658952/8 "2013-05-21T20:41:14Z")
Sailing. The America’s Cup is the pinnacle for match racing. Each Olympic class has a World Championship regatta that outshines the Olympics. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-olympic-sports-have-more-prestigious-tournaments/658952/9 "2013-05-21T20:41:47Z")
IMO: Hockey. Golf returns to the Olympics in 2016. It won’t come close to the 4 majors. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-olympic-sports-have-more-prestigious-tournaments/658952/10 "2013-05-21T22:02:39Z")
I’d argue Olympic hockey is just a tad more prestigious than the Stanley Cup. What’s funny is that baseball had no world tournament before a few years ago and the Olympics threw it out. ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-olympic-sports-have-more-prestigious-tournaments/658952/11 "2013-05-21T22:32:06Z")
Hockey is kinda apples to oranges, IMO. ---
**Author:** ![Busy\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d78d45/32.png) [@Busy\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Busy_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-olympic-sports-have-more-prestigious-tournaments/658952/12 "2013-05-21T22:35:59Z")
Defo road cycling - road race and time trial are less important than the Spring Classics, world champs etc. The Olympics is probably top dog for track cycling in the velodrome, though, compared to annual indoor cycling events. ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-olympic-sports-have-more-prestigious-tournaments/658952/13 "2013-05-21T23:18:55Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > I’d argue Olympic hockey is just a tad more prestigious than the Stanley Cup. You would argue incorrectly then. Lord Stanley is…well, LORD Stanley. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2013, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-olympic-sports-have-more-prestigious-tournaments/658952/14 "2013-05-22T00:05:51Z")
**Tennis** and Wimbledon is its most prestigious, though the others are very prestigious as well. **Golf is back in the 2016 Olympics** and it has the Masters tournament, which I think is pretty presitiougs. ---
**Author:** ![kurtisokc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbce88/32.png) [@kurtisokc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kurtisokc)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2013, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-olympic-sports-have-more-prestigious-tournaments/658952/15 "2013-05-30T01:50:39Z")
I would argue that in basketball and hockey it is kind of like comparing apples and oranges, since the comparison is with a club competition as opposed to one between national teams. In soccer, however, the olympics isn’t even the premier international tournament. (At least that’s true for the men.) ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2013, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-olympic-sports-have-more-prestigious-tournaments/658952/16 "2013-05-30T04:13:31Z")
For men’s Association Football, it is also a bit of comparing apples to oranges, or at least red apples to green apples. Olympic men’s soccer sides are each only permitted three players above the age of 23. The women’s sides have no such restrictions. The women’s Olympic gold medal is probably only slightly less prestigious than the women’s World Cup. But, obviously, the men’s World Cup is far more prestigious than the men’s Olympic gold medal. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2013, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-olympic-sports-have-more-prestigious-tournaments/658952/17 "2013-05-30T04:45:22Z")
Field Hockey World Cup is more prestigious. Olympics was the prime tournament until the World Cup stated though. But, while for many sports, the Olympics is still a major event despite being less prestigious than another, for sports like Association Football for men and Tennis, it’s not even a particularly big tourney. ---
**Author:** ![sisu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@sisu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sisu)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2013, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-olympic-sports-have-more-prestigious-tournaments/658952/18 "2013-05-30T05:45:47Z")
Soccer, Golf, Tennis, Basketball, are the ones that come to mind straight away. ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2013, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-olympic-sports-have-more-prestigious-tournaments/658952/19 "2013-05-30T06:48:23Z")
> [@cmosdes](#): > > Golf and possibly Marathon, although the latter is very likely highly debatable. Yeah, Marathon is a funny one. To one way of thinking, the Boston Marathon is the most prestigious. But it’s not even a world record course-- because it’s downhill, you can’t set a recognized world record on it. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2013, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-olympic-sports-have-more-prestigious-tournaments/658952/20 "2013-05-30T20:38:17Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > I’d argue Olympic hockey is just a tad more prestigious than the Stanley Cup. You could, but it would be a hard struggle to convince most fans of that. > [@](#): > > What’s funny is that baseball had no world tournament before a few years ago and the Olympics threw it out. I do so hope you don’t also think the World Baseball Classic is more prestigious than the World Series. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-olympic-sports-have-more-prestigious-tournaments/658952.md?page=2)