# What sport would you like to see added to the Olympics? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** olympic-sports-track\ **Created:** [August 2, 2021, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sport-would-you-like-to-see-added-to-the-olympics/947901 "2021-08-02T22:08:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![lum\_s\_husband](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lum_s_husband/32/3698_2.png) [@lum\_s\_husband](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lum_s_husband)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2021, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sport-would-you-like-to-see-added-to-the-olympics/947901/101 "2021-08-30T23:50:22Z")
Candlepin bowling. The maximum theoretical score has never been approached. ---
**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 31, 2021, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sport-would-you-like-to-see-added-to-the-olympics/947901/102 "2021-08-31T00:59:33Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > Courtney Dauwalter, the top woman in last weekend’s Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc, finished seventh overall, less than two hours behind men’s winner François D’haene. She’s the friend of a friend, coworkers. She did amazing! ---
**Author:** ![vbob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vbob/32/4439_2.png) [@vbob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vbob)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2021, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sport-would-you-like-to-see-added-to-the-olympics/947901/103 "2021-08-31T01:15:16Z")
An old idea of mine could certainly be extended to include Olympic competition: * * * A modest proposal: It has long been known that encouraging a widely shared activity with a bit of healthy competition is both an excellent way to build community, and to keep the citizenry distracted. Ideally, one gets the children involved during their early education, then gradually ramps up their involvement through both participation and spectation, until as adults it becomes a major focus of their lives AND an excellent marketing opportunity. Proposed: in grade school, the children be taught to build birdhouses and bat houses; in middle school they could advance to doghouses & cold-frames; high-schoolers could easily build yard sheds and bus shelters. Forming into work teams and advancing into college, barns and greenhouses would be great opportunities for practice. Upon graduation, those who had excelled would be recruited into regional teams, competing against each other to erect homeless shelters, community centers, food banks. Midwinter, the best and brightest of each region would compete on national TV to erect health clinics. There could be roles for all manner of participants - one thrills to think of handsome young men in tight pants leading waves of cheers as nimble women race up ladders and relay shingles to their captain at the peak, waiting to drive the last nail with her golden hammer and win the trophy for that year. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2021, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sport-would-you-like-to-see-added-to-the-olympics/947901/104 "2021-08-31T01:27:19Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > > [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > > > Courtney Dauwalter, the top woman in last weekend’s Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc, finished seventh overall, less than two hours behind men’s winner François D’haene. > > She’s the friend of a friend, coworkers. She did amazing! Oh, yeah. She’s a machine. Gets out to a lead and then just grinds it out, and good luck catching her - all you’ll see is her race pack, disappearing in the distance. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2021, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sport-would-you-like-to-see-added-to-the-olympics/947901/105 "2021-08-31T01:42:20Z")
-Pankration -MMA -[Dueling](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympic_dueling) -[Five-Finger Fillet](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knife_game) -Caber Toss -The [Mesoamerican Ball Game](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesoamerican_ballgame) -Chariot Racing ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2021, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sport-would-you-like-to-see-added-to-the-olympics/947901/106 "2021-09-03T01:57:27Z")
Parkour. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2021, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sport-would-you-like-to-see-added-to-the-olympics/947901/107 "2021-09-03T02:45:23Z")
Great minds think alike. > [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > As to which sport to add, I’d like to see [parkour](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkour) in the Olympics, perhaps replacing race walking, which just looks silly. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2023, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sport-would-you-like-to-see-added-to-the-olympics/947901/108 "2023-08-23T17:45:39Z")
A Washington Post article claims adding cricket would bring 1.4B fans to the Olympics. I’m guessing most of them live in just a few countries, though. The Olympics used to have a tug-of-war. That would be pretty sweet. But it was REPORTedly discontinued to make room for Red Rover, Frozen Tag and British Bulldog. ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2023, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sport-would-you-like-to-see-added-to-the-olympics/947901/109 "2023-08-23T18:26:01Z")
I think the main problem with cricket is, it requires fields specific to the sport - more so than baseball - and we are back to the problem of, “What do you with the stadiums when the Olympics are over?” ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2023, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sport-would-you-like-to-see-added-to-the-olympics/947901/110 "2023-08-23T18:32:56Z")
I think a baseball diamond is pretty specific to that sport. What else can it be used for? And lots of sports require special facilities, like a velodrome for track cycling events, or those waterways used for kayaking and canoeing slalom (though those look like they would be fun to use recreationally). ---
**Author:** ![TheGunIsMightierThanThePen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thegunismightierthanthepen/32/2981_2.png) [@TheGunIsMightierThanThePen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheGunIsMightierThanThePen)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2023, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sport-would-you-like-to-see-added-to-the-olympics/947901/111 "2023-08-23T18:48:46Z")
I suppose cricket could be added as a one-off competition for Olympics that are hosted in countries where cricket is popular and already have plenty of cricket fields, like England or Australia / New Zealand. Kind of like how baseball was included in the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo and expected to be in the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, even though it was removed from the permanent Olympic program following an IOC meeting in 2005. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2023, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sport-would-you-like-to-see-added-to-the-olympics/947901/112 "2023-08-23T19:40:24Z")
I’d like to see a decathlon type multi-sport event spanning the whole of individual games, not just track and field. Swimming and diving, weightlifting and gymnastics, archery and rowing, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2023, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sport-would-you-like-to-see-added-to-the-olympics/947901/113 "2023-08-23T21:22:35Z")
There is the modern pentathlon, which combines fencing, swimming, equestrian, running, and pistol shooting. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2023, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sport-would-you-like-to-see-added-to-the-olympics/947901/114 "2023-08-23T21:59:08Z")
I find that decidedly un-modern, and way too restricted and small compared to what I’m looking for, which is a sampling of the whole Olympics. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2023, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sport-would-you-like-to-see-added-to-the-olympics/947901/115 "2023-08-23T22:01:35Z")
The champion of the _hectathalon_ really would be the greatest athlete in the world. But to get to a hundred “sports”, you might have to throw in karaoke, line dancing and parcheesi. How many individual sports are there? ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2023, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sport-would-you-like-to-see-added-to-the-olympics/947901/116 "2023-08-23T22:35:07Z")
I’ve wondered what events I’d put in a winter pentathlon. I’ve got speed skating, giant slalom skiing, luge, and cross-country skiing, but I need one more. Snowboard cross seems like the best choice. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2023, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sport-would-you-like-to-see-added-to-the-olympics/947901/117 "2023-08-23T22:42:43Z")
Ski jumping of course! ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2023, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sport-would-you-like-to-see-added-to-the-olympics/947901/118 "2023-08-23T23:25:25Z")
A wise man once asked, “how many sports are there (for individuals)?” This has an answer. That answer is forty-eight. But also 120. And 205. Though the list is far from complete. I’d pay to see an event where the same athlete has to skeet shoot, rally race, dogsled, skateboard, pommel horse, bullfight, box and go ballooning. > **[List of sports | Team, Individual, Olympic](https://www.britannica.com/topic/list-of-sports-2038581)** > > Sports are defined as physical contests pursued for the goals and challenges they entail. This is an alphabetically ordered list of sports, grouped by manner of play (individual or team). Sports that may be played with either opposing individuals or... ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2023, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sport-would-you-like-to-see-added-to-the-olympics/947901/119 "2023-08-24T03:05:52Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > Ski jumping of course! Is that reply to my suggestion of a winter pentathlon? I thought of ski jumping, but there’s already an event, the Nordic combined, which pairs ski jumping with cross-country skiing. If I put both those events in my winter pentathlon, then athletes from the Nordic combined would have two good events already. ---
**Author:** ![Wallaby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/dc4da7/32.png) [@Wallaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallaby)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2023, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sport-would-you-like-to-see-added-to-the-olympics/947901/120 "2023-08-24T05:26:38Z")
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