# Which Sports Should be in the Olympics - but Aren't? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 19, 2004, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-sports-should-be-in-the-olympics-but-arent/260521 "2004-08-19T07:02:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2004, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-sports-should-be-in-the-olympics-but-arent/260521/1 "2004-08-19T07:02:28Z")
Given some of the ‘marginal’ sports that are now in the Olympics (synchro diving, beach volleyball, etc), there seem to be some startling omissions from the Olympics. For instance, Golf. Why isn’t Golf an Olympic sport? It has a sanctioning body. It has international competition (the Davis Cup), and it’s been around for a long, long time. So how come it’s not in the Olympics? Another is Karate. Karate has national sanctioning bodies like the JKF. It would seem to me that it would be an ideal sport. You could have Kata, weapons Kata, light contact and full contact sparring. Billiards. Hey, if curling can be a sport, why not snooker? Or nine ball? Or straight pool? ‘extreme’ sports. Okay, some if not most of them are goofy. But surely there must be some that are suffiently well defined and judged that they could qualify. Water Skiing would be a natural addition. Aerobatics. There’s a world ranking system. There are international competitions. The judging is highly evolved and standardized. It’d be a GREAT addition to the Olympics. And it’s one of the few sports where men and women compete directly against each other. Any others? ---
**Author:** ![DataZak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ea666f/32.png) [@DataZak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DataZak)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2004, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-sports-should-be-in-the-olympics-but-arent/260521/2 "2004-08-19T07:08:48Z")
Chess. _What_? I’m serious. Don’t look at me like that. ---
**Author:** ![Avenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de0a6/32.png) [@Avenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avenger)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2004, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-sports-should-be-in-the-olympics-but-arent/260521/3 "2004-08-19T07:21:18Z")
Minor nitpick, Davis Cup is tennis, golf is Ryder Cup. Golf used to be in the olympics, see [here](http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_24-3-2004_pg2_19) for an article on the possibility of its re-introduction. There appears to be some support for karate to be included as well, a google search for ‘karate olympics’ turns up several online petitions. ---
**Author:** ![Legolamb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4491bb/32.png) [@Legolamb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Legolamb)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2004, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-sports-should-be-in-the-olympics-but-arent/260521/4 "2004-08-19T10:32:41Z")
Twenty20 Cricket. Shorter, faster and much higher run rates make it a lot of fun than test or one day cricket, and this from a fan of the more traditional format. Plus, if baseball can be an Olympic sport, then why the hell not? ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2004, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-sports-should-be-in-the-olympics-but-arent/260521/5 "2004-08-19T12:24:03Z")
I’d like to see Tug of War reintroduced. I’d watch that long before I watch synchonized diving. ---
**Author:** ![Genghis\_Bob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/45deac/32.png) [@Genghis\_Bob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Genghis_Bob)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2004, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-sports-should-be-in-the-olympics-but-arent/260521/6 "2004-08-19T12:34:51Z")
Marching Band. They compete, they have judges and stuff. It’s like synchronized walking, with instruments. Hey, it could happen . . . ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2004, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-sports-should-be-in-the-olympics-but-arent/260521/7 "2004-08-19T12:53:06Z")
Chain-saw jousting. ---
**Author:** ![Carnac\_the\_Magnificent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Carnac\_the\_Magnificent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carnac_the_Magnificent)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2004, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-sports-should-be-in-the-olympics-but-arent/260521/8 "2004-08-19T13:25:05Z")
> [@Sam Stone](#): > > Given some of the ‘marginal’ sports that are now in the Olympics (synchro diving, beach volleyball, etc), there seem to be some startling omissions from the Olympics. For instance, Golf. Why isn’t Golf an Olympic sport? It has a sanctioning body. It has international competition (the Davis Cup), and it’s been around for a long, long time. So how come it’s not in the Olympics? > > Another is Karate. Karate has national sanctioning bodies like the JKF. It would seem to me that it would be an ideal sport. You could have Kata, weapons Kata, light contact and full contact sparring. > > Any others? There’s been too many marginal sports tacked on, as it is. The Olympics have become bloated with events. I would reduce the number of events by half. Feh. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2004, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-sports-should-be-in-the-olympics-but-arent/260521/9 "2004-08-19T14:02:36Z")
I see no advantage to reducing the number of events at the Olympics. I’d increase it. Get more people participating. Sports I’d add: Golf - absolutely the first one I’d add Rugby Cricket Croquet Billiards - snooker AND eight ball. Nine ball isn’t sufficiently distinct to bother with. Karate Chess isn’t a sport. Aerobatics is dependent upon complex vehicles, which I’d be a little hesitant to add (I’d take sailing events out.) A lot of sports just aren’t played in enough countries, like football or sumo. A cool addition would be co-ed slo-pitch, but I don’t think it’s popular outside of the USA and Canada. Too bad; you’d have men and women playing together, which would be cool. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2004, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-sports-should-be-in-the-olympics-but-arent/260521/10 "2004-08-19T14:33:12Z")
> [@DataZak](#): > > Chess. > _What_? I’m serious. Don’t look at me like that. But how will they stand up to the [drug tests](http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/199/chesspawns.shtml)? Apparently, surfing is in the pipe for an Olympic place ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2004, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-sports-should-be-in-the-olympics-but-arent/260521/11 "2004-08-19T15:02:06Z")
**Rickjay** said: > [@](#): > > Billiards - snooker AND eight ball. Nine ball isn’t sufficiently distinct to bother with. 9-ball is a far superior competition game than 8-ball, which is why there isn’t a professional 8-ball tour. Played at a high level, 8-ball involves far too much luck. Because players are shooting at different balls, how the balls wind up after the break has a huge impact on who’s going to win the rack. Actually, the best game for competition is, in my opinion, straight pool. But hell, if we’re going to add billiarsds, why not add them all? And then you can have an overall champion, too. That’d be the most prestigious award in pool. The person who does best at 8-ball, 9-ball, straight pool, snooker, and one-pocket becomes the olympic champion and the best pool player in the world. But you know what? The Phillippines would kick the world’s butt. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2004, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-sports-should-be-in-the-olympics-but-arent/260521/12 "2004-08-19T15:24:50Z")
Skateboarding. Cheerleading. Climbing. Street luge. Team gymnastics where they’re all out there doing their stuff at the same time, like in those gymnastic shows that old Olympians go to put themselves through college in. Ultimate Frisbee. ---
**Author:** ![Mullinator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@Mullinator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mullinator)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2004, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-sports-should-be-in-the-olympics-but-arent/260521/13 "2004-08-19T16:07:52Z")
A lot of the above suggestions are quite good. A few more that only I might find interesting I would pay money as a spectator to watch: Wiffle Ball Frisbee Golf Texas Hold Em Ultimate Frisbee Flag Football ---
**Author:** ![LateComer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b5ac83/32.png) [@LateComer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LateComer)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2004, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-sports-should-be-in-the-olympics-but-arent/260521/14 "2004-08-19T18:05:38Z")
horseshoes Bocce Ball Hell, why not lawn darts! ---
**Author:** ![Nuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ea666f/32.png) [@Nuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nuke)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2004, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-sports-should-be-in-the-olympics-but-arent/260521/15 "2004-08-19T18:17:36Z")
Demolition Derby ---
**Author:** ![Ms\_Boods](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5e9695/32.png) [@Ms\_Boods](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms_Boods)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2004, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-sports-should-be-in-the-olympics-but-arent/260521/16 "2004-08-19T18:28:01Z")
Food fights Championship spitballing Gang tagging (points for speed, originality, and choice of location) (admittedly, my schoolpeers were not into ‘traditional’ organised sport… 🙂 ) ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2004, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-sports-should-be-in-the-olympics-but-arent/260521/17 "2004-08-19T18:33:10Z")
I’d remove the following events: Shot put (both genders) 50km race walk 20km race walk (both genders) Hammer throw (both genders) Men’s 1500m wheelchair Women’s 800m wheelchair Baseball (simply not global enough; should be left to regional games) All canoe/kayak Dressage Football (soccer); when the Olympics is not the premier international competition, it should just stay away Tennis (unless it returned to amateur) Trampoline Sailing Synchronized diving I would add: Golf (if it remained amateur, top-level international professional events already exist, and there is a usable amateur structure in place) Cricket Pool/Billiards of some sort Rugby Martial arts, blend them all into one competitive event. Who cares if you’re best at karate if the tae kwon do guy could beat you. pickle ball (just because it is a game I play) ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2004, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-sports-should-be-in-the-olympics-but-arent/260521/18 "2004-08-19T19:32:49Z")
> [@LateComer](#): > > horseshoes > Bocce Ball > > Hell, why not lawn darts! _Thunk_ Ow! My head! That’s it, I’m gonna sue! ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2004, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-sports-should-be-in-the-olympics-but-arent/260521/19 "2004-08-19T19:40:09Z")
> [@Sam Stone](#): > > 9-ball is a far superior competition game than 8-ball, which is why there isn’t a professional 8-ball tour. Played at a high level, 8-ball involves far too much luck. Because players are shooting at different balls, how the balls wind up after the break has a huge impact on who’s going to win the rack. > > Actually, the best game for competition is, in my opinion, straight pool. But hell, if we’re going to add billiarsds, why not add them all? And then you can have an overall champion, too. That’d be the most prestigious award in pool. The person who does best at 8-ball, 9-ball, straight pool, snooker, and one-pocket becomes the olympic champion and the best pool player in the world. > > But you know what? The Phillippines would kick the world’s butt. I’d already planned out a first-draft billiards itinerary for future Olympic Games on another thread: **Pocket Billiards** Straight Pool (14.1 Continuous, 500 pts) 8-Ball 9-Ball One Pocket Snooker Trick shooting (non-medaling exhibition) **Carom Billiards** Straight Billiards (aka Straight-rail) One-Cushion Three Cushion 47.2 Balkline 71.2 Balkline Artistic billiards (non-medaling exhibition) … I have seen eight-ball played professionally on television … what do you mean “no tour”? Do you mean it is only played in more or less _ad hoc_ tournaments here and there? ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2004, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-sports-should-be-in-the-olympics-but-arent/260521/20 "2004-08-19T19:42:21Z")
Luge bowling. “Looks like he’s going for a 7-10 split…” :eek: [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-sports-should-be-in-the-olympics-but-arent/260521.md?page=2)