# Why is Race Walking an Olympic Sport But Dodge Ball Isn't? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [August 12, 2012, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-race-walking-an-olympic-sport-but-dodge-ball-isnt/631230 "2012-08-12T00:32:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![zombywoof](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/9e8a1a/32.png) [@zombywoof](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zombywoof)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2012, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-race-walking-an-olympic-sport-but-dodge-ball-isnt/631230/21 "2012-08-12T03:45:45Z")
> [@Wordy](#): > > I switched channels before the caddy’s finished loading up the clubs on the golf car to drive the golfer around. I must have missed the part where the golfer worked up a sweat. Ah - as I suspected, you don’t know what you’re talking about - carts are disallowed in pro golf, of course. If you think there’s no athletic skill involved, go ahead and enter a local tournament and see how you fare 😃 ---
**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:** [August 12, 2012, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-race-walking-an-olympic-sport-but-dodge-ball-isnt/631230/22 "2012-08-12T03:50:54Z")
> [@Wordy](#): > > I switched channels before the caddy’s finished loading up the clubs on the golf car to drive the golfer around. I must have missed the part where the golfer worked up a sweat. Dude, I’m just popping in to the thread, but you are wrong. I’ve never played golf in my entire life, never really watched it for more than a few moments on TV, but it is obviously an athletic sport. ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2012, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-race-walking-an-olympic-sport-but-dodge-ball-isnt/631230/23 "2012-08-12T03:52:50Z")
> [@zombywoof](#): > > Ah - as I suspected, you don’t know what you’re talking about - carts are disallowed in pro golf, of course. > > If you think there’s no athletic skill involved, go ahead and enter a local tournament and see how you fare 😃 You could use the same criteria to prove that Starcraft tournaments are athletic. ---
**Author:** ![Wordy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/4491bb/32.png) [@Wordy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wordy)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2012, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-race-walking-an-olympic-sport-but-dodge-ball-isnt/631230/24 "2012-08-12T04:03:01Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Dude, I’m just popping in to the thread, but you are wrong. I’ve never played golf in my entire life, never really watched it for more than a few moments on TV, but it is obviously an athletic sport. Athletic in what sense? ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2012, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-race-walking-an-olympic-sport-but-dodge-ball-isnt/631230/25 "2012-08-12T04:03:50Z")
> [@fiddlesticks](#): > > Dodgeball needs to get onto this [list at Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_international_sport_federations) before the Olympics would even consider it. Getting on to a Wikipedia list is easy. It’s staying on past the volunteer editor attacks that’s the tricky part 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Jaledin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jaledin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaledin)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2012, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-race-walking-an-olympic-sport-but-dodge-ball-isnt/631230/26 "2012-08-12T04:15:47Z")
Wait that was Cary Grant not Sean Connery who played the racewalker in a movie. Same thing, though. International! Racewalking is fucking hard. Even a disgusting fatbody like me would rather run any distance than racewalk a mile. Those people go fucking fast. ---
**Author:** ![Wordy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/4491bb/32.png) [@Wordy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wordy)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2012, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-race-walking-an-olympic-sport-but-dodge-ball-isnt/631230/27 "2012-08-12T04:19:23Z")
Why walk when you can run? ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2012, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-race-walking-an-olympic-sport-but-dodge-ball-isnt/631230/28 "2012-08-12T04:26:42Z")
> [@Wordy](#): > > What criteria are those IOC yahoos using to include golf??? I’m curious as to why it was ever out. Golf is a sport played by millions of people across the world, and it has a recognized international federation that controls the manner in which it is played, laying out the fundamental rules of the game, running organized competitions to determine ranking and eligibility for major events for virtually all serious competitors. I don’t see any way in which golf is not a perfect choice for the Olympics. As for its alleged lack of athleticism, it’s a ridiculous criticism and makes no sense at all. A sport is not “something that makes you sweat.” Moving furniture makes you sweat. Building a driveway out of paving stones will make you sweat. Those are not sports. A sport is a contest of physical skill with defined rules for determining a winner. Shooting and archery don’t require you build up much of a sweat either - in fact, I doubt javelin or shot put requires much sweating, for that matter, since you aren’t exerting yourself for longer than a cuple of seconds. > [@](#): > > Dodge ball is played competitively. For example: [http://www.dodgeballusa.com/](http://www.dodgeballusa.com/) A sport played seriously in just one, or a few, countries is the very essense of a sport that would never make it to the Olympics. The IOC requires a sport be played competitively in a minimum number of countries. Dodgeball has no serious international organization that sets out the rules of the game or that runs internationally recognized tournaments. > [@](#): > > And more people play soccer than golf. If the criteria for inclusion is that as many people play a sport as play soccer, soccer would be the only sport at the Olympics. You could just cancel the Olympics entirely and make the World Cup the new Olympics. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2012, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-race-walking-an-olympic-sport-but-dodge-ball-isnt/631230/29 "2012-08-12T08:57:57Z")
> [@Jman](#): > > Do you know dodgeball is popular outside the US? I’m from the UK, I like to think I have good general knowledge, and I’ve never even heard of dodgeball. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2012, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-race-walking-an-olympic-sport-but-dodge-ball-isnt/631230/30 "2012-08-12T16:58:38Z")
> [@Jaledin](#): > > Wait that was Cary Grant not Sean Connery who played the racewalker in a movie. Same thing, though. International! No, Cary Grant was the star, but Jim Hutton (father of Timothy) played the race walker in _Walk, Don’t Run_. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2012, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-race-walking-an-olympic-sport-but-dodge-ball-isnt/631230/31 "2012-08-12T17:43:07Z")
> [@Wordy](#): > > Golf is not athletic, thus it should have zero consideration for the Olympics. > **[Shot put](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shotput)** > > The shot put is a track-and-field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical ball—the shot—as far as possible. For men, the sport has been a part of the modern Olympics since their revival (1896), and women's competition began in 1948. The shot put is part of the most common combined events, the decathlon, the women's and men's heptathlon and the women's pentathlon. > Homer mentions competitions of rock throwing by soldiers during the siege of Troy but there is no record of any weights... ---
**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 12, 2012, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-race-walking-an-olympic-sport-but-dodge-ball-isnt/631230/32 "2012-08-12T18:11:23Z")
> [@Wordy](#): > > Athletic in what sense? In that hitting a golf ball accurately and for distance over a round of golf requires strength, coordination, and stamina. ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2012, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-race-walking-an-olympic-sport-but-dodge-ball-isnt/631230/33 "2012-08-12T18:59:14Z")
> [@Wordy](#): > > Golf is not athletic, thus it should have zero consideration for the Olympics. Between shooting and archery, they gave out 57 medals this year. ---
**Author:** ![Wordy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/4491bb/32.png) [@Wordy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wordy)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2012, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-race-walking-an-olympic-sport-but-dodge-ball-isnt/631230/34 "2012-08-12T19:08:47Z")
> [@Lamar\_Mundane](#): > > Between shooting and archery, they gave out 57 medals this year. Shooting and archery aren’t athletic either in their current forms. They should be made to run through an obstacle course and shoot at the same time. > [@Telemark](#): > > In that hitting a golf ball accurately and for distance over a round of golf requires strength, coordination, and stamina. Golfers vs. Usain Bolt. One does not fit at the Olympics. ---
**Author:** ![PatriotGrrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9dc877/32.png) [@PatriotGrrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotGrrrl)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2012, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-race-walking-an-olympic-sport-but-dodge-ball-isnt/631230/35 "2012-08-12T19:46:57Z")
> [@Ximenean](#): > > I’m from the UK, I like to think I have good general knowledge, and I’ve never even heard of dodgeball. It’s played almost entirely in school gym classes, where it serves less as a sport and more as a form of institutionalized bullying. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2012, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-race-walking-an-olympic-sport-but-dodge-ball-isnt/631230/36 "2012-08-12T21:18:11Z")
> [@Ximenean](#): > > I’m from the UK, I like to think I have good general knowledge, and I’ve never even heard of dodgeball. I have heard of it here, and given the name I suspected it might be a game we played in elementary school in France. I just looked it up, and though the general concept is the same, there are significant differences (mostly, kids hit become “prisonners”, keep playing in a limited way and the only way to get out of “jail” is to free yourself). I suspect there might be other variations of the same concept in many countries, but to become an Olympic sport, you’d need to have consistent rules adopted everywhere, get it out of the elementary schools and played by many adults, and have some sort of international organization and competition. Won’t happen anytime soon. ---
**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 12, 2012, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-race-walking-an-olympic-sport-but-dodge-ball-isnt/631230/37 "2012-08-12T21:53:38Z")
> [@Wordy](#): > > Golfers vs. Usain Bolt. One does not fit at the Olympics. Without giving us criteria that you think defines an Olympic sport, that’s pretty meaningless. I’m not a huge fan of golf, but there’s no arbitrary reason why it should be excluded. ---
**Author:** ![Wordy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/4491bb/32.png) [@Wordy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wordy)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2012, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-race-walking-an-olympic-sport-but-dodge-ball-isnt/631230/38 "2012-08-12T22:02:34Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > Without giving us criteria that you think defines an Olympic sport, that’s pretty meaningless. I’m not a huge fan of golf, but there’s no arbitrary reason why it should be excluded. The comparison of Golfers vs. Usain Bolt is the duck test of obviousness. You take a look at a group of golfers compared to Usain Bolt and it is immediately obvious that one is athletic and the other is not. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2012, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-race-walking-an-olympic-sport-but-dodge-ball-isnt/631230/39 "2012-08-13T03:28:06Z")
> [@Wordy](#): > > You take a look at a group of golfers compared to Usain Bolt and it is immediately obvious that one is athletic and the other is not. A “group of golfers” is not an example of athletes at the top of their sport. And, yes, there are some pro golfers who are not in good shape (_cough_John Daly_cough_), but there are fat guys playing at a pro level in other sports, too,such as former MLB players David Wells and John Kruk, or practically every defensive tackle in the NFL. Oh, and BTW, please tell me that [this guy](http://cdn05.cdn.justjared.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/tiger-shirtless/tiger-woods-shirtless-vanity-fair-cover-01.jpg) is not an athlete. 😃 ---
**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 13, 2012, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-race-walking-an-olympic-sport-but-dodge-ball-isnt/631230/40 "2012-08-13T11:27:33Z")
> [@Wordy](#): > > The comparison of Golfers vs. Usain Bolt is the duck test of obviousness. You take a look at a group of golfers compared to Usain Bolt and it is immediately obvious that one is athletic and the other is not. Non-answer. Do you expect all athletes to have low body fat? It’s not needed for a lot of sports. Do you expect all athletes to have massively muscled arms? Again, not needed in a lot of sports. Athletes come in a variety of shapes and sizes; it sounds like you want to define sports by what body type it takes to compete in them. It’s not an unworkable definition, but it’s not one that many people share IMO. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-race-walking-an-olympic-sport-but-dodge-ball-isnt/631230.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-race-walking-an-olympic-sport-but-dodge-ball-isnt/631230.md?page=3)